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HISTORY 'P^ 



OF 



MADISON COUNTY, 



STATE OF NEW YORK. 



BY MRS. L. M. HAMMOND. ^ 



SYRACUSE : 

TRUAIR, SMITH & CO., BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 
1872. 



-^f- 



88801 

Ubrary of CorK»r<i.-3J 

Two Copies Hec . I 
DEC 15(900 ' 

rjRST COPY. I 

ORDER OIVISJUH' 
PEC 21 190Q 



/- / 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 

MRS. L. M. HAMMOND, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 

Northern District of New York. 



TO THE 

MEMORY OF THE PIONEERS, 

TO THE 

REMNANT OF THOSE SURVIVING, 

Those courageous men a?id women who suffered the privatio7is, 
endured the hardships and toil, that we might enjoy the fruit thereof. 

TO THOSE 

Who have reared our beautiful villages ; dotted the valleys with a 
multitude of ha7nlets ; covered the hills with peaceful homes ; who 
have planted Schools and Churches, established manufactures, pro- 
moted agriculture ; who have bound our cotintry to the commercial 
world with many iroti bands, and have drawn hither the electric 
channels of the world's utterances. 

With filial and fraternal ai^ection, 

THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY 
DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



No apology need be offered for such a work as this. It is 
time that the recollections of the pioneers were gathered together, 
before the last of them shall have passed away ; before the eyes 
that have seen the wonderful changes wrought in the domain of 
our own county, shall be forever closed, and the lips, which alone 
can describe them as they were, are forever silent. One by one 
the landmarks are falling, and the records of memory are fast 
fading away. Little enough can be gleaned at the present time. 
A few years hence nothing further has been written of the 
earliest days, can be obtained, except by uncertain tradition. 

In 1863, the writer began her work by visiting and conversing 
with aged people, taking notes from their memories, of the long . 
ago past. The sketches so obtained were properly labeled and 
laid in their appropriate places, each town by itself, for future 
use. They were gathered, not so much with a view to publica- 
tion, as to preserve them, knowing they would, in time, be useful 
to some one. The material accumulated year by year, but 
slowly, as only time not devoted to household duties, was used 
in the pursuit.. 

In 1867, the brother of the writer, J. M. Chase, joined her in 
the work, and the two for a season were engaged in connection, 
collecting historical matter. But, as it interfered with his other 
labors, required time which he had not to spare, careful thought, 
and much comparison and sifting, which one whose thoughts 
were busy with the cares of the work-day world, could not 
employ, he relinquished the object, and the author went on 
alone, devoting her energies almost entirely to the work the last 
years. 



6 PREFACE. 

From 1867 to 187 1, a series of sketches from this history were 
published in the Oneida Dispatch, the object of which was to 
awaken public sentiment, elicit information, and thus add to the 
increasing fund of material. It had the desired effect, and by 
the means, a more complete, and by far more correct history is 
obtained, as the imperfections of the sketches were thus eradi- 
cated. 

In the aim to furnish a history of this region, reaching back 
to the remotest period, thousands of pages have been intently 
perused and digested. No work has been oftener consulted 
and more largely drawn from, than the "Documentary History of 
New York State." Valentine's "History of New York City," 
Campbell's "Annals of Tyron," and "Schoolcraft's Notes on the 
Iroquois," have contributed most useful material for the follow- 
ing pages. In a great measure the different State Gazetteers 
have served most excellent purpose. Smith's "History of New 
York," the New York State Census of several dates, the Civil 
List, the Red Book of various dates, several reports of the New 
York State Agricultural Society, the "New Encyclopedia," have 
been daily references. Barber's "Historical Collections," the 
"Life of De Witt Clinton," the "Memoirs of Dr. Nathaniel Ken. 
drick," the "Life of Mrs. Judson," and others have been con- 
sulted, and in some instances drawn from for biographical 
sketches. 

Local historians have materially aided the progress of the 

work. Jones' "Annals of Oneida County," Clark's "Onondaga," 

Turner's "History of the Holland Purchase," Hatch's "History 

of the Town of Sherburne," — for all of which the author asks 

. forbearance for having so freely used in extract. 

In all sections of the county, old families have been visited, 
family records perused, and time-yellowed documents examined. 
Statements have been taken from the lips of many aged men 
and women who lived through the days when toil and privation 
was the heritage of all, several of whom are now resting from 
their labors, and from them no farther record can be gained. 

To E. Norton, Esq., publisher of the Madison Observer, E. H. 
Purdy and D. A. Jackson, publishers of the Oneida Dispatch, J. 
B. Guilford, former editor of that paper ; to E. D. Van Slyck, of 
the? Hamilton Republican, the Democratic Volunteer, through the 



PREFACE. 7 

courtesy of M. G. Fellows, a former proprietor, especial obliga- 
tions are due ; to the Cazenovia Reptiblican, the Oneida Union, the 
DeRuyter New Era, and to the entire Newspaper Press of Madi- 
son County the author is indebted. 

For valued assistance and the use of interesting manuscripts, 
she is under deep obligations to Gen. J. D. Ledyard and L. W. 
Ledyard, of Cazenovia ; A. V. Bentley, Esq., of DeRuyter ; Judge 
Barlow, of Canastota ; Hon. Wm. K. Fuller, of Schenectady ; 
Rev. Wm. M. Pratt, of Louisville, Ky.; W. O. Spencer, Esq., of 
Lakeport ; Hon. John J. Foot, of Hamilton \ and would here 
express her sincere thanks for the helping hand they gave. 

Also to Col. E. D. Jencks, of DeRuyter ; I. N. Smith, Esq., 
of DeRuyter ; J. W. Northrup, Esq., of Georgetown \ Rev. W. 
B. Downer, of Cazenovia ; A. A. Raymond, Peterboro ; Rev. 
John Smitzer, of Oneida ; Rev. J. H. Enders, of Chittenango ; 
Mrs. Brinkerhoof, Chittenango ; Samuel French, Esq., Chitte- 
nango ; H. H. Hall, Esq., of Lenox ; Niles Higinbotham, of 
Oneida ; Jas. B. Jenkins, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, of 
Oneida ; Mrs. S. Watrous, of East Avon ; A. M. Holmes, M.D., 
Morrisville, James Cooledge, Madison ; Calvin Morse, Esq., 
Eaton ; Ezra Leland, Eaton ; Charles De Ferriere, Wamps- 
ville; Wait Clark and Luke Hoxie, Esqrs., ofBrookfield, andL. 
H. Warren, Esq., of Oneida Co., for valuable material and useful 
and timely help, and to our County Clerk, A. D. Kennedy, Esq., 
for generous assistance in searching records at the Clerk's office. 

In addition to these there are a host of men and women 
throughout the county, who have in every way aided the 
researches of the author, by furnishing answers to inquiries, by 
looking up long forgotten documents, by assisting in searching 
records of Churches and other societies, and to all she would 
tender the most grateful acknowledgments for those generous 
efforts in behalf of the work. 

It has been a labor of great care. To make the work as 
correct and reliable as possible, no pains have been spared in 
examining and sifting every item of information, reconciling 
statements, and leaving out all that was wanting corroboration. 
Each town has been separately reviewed by different individuals, . 
men whose knowledge and acquaintance; with the growth and 
changes of their own localities, and whose judgment in the 



8 PREFACE. 

premises gives general confidence in their statements as to its 
correctness. And yet, notwithstanding all this care, many errors 
have undoubtedly crept in, unobserved, to be eradicated by the 
future historian. 

This has also been a labor of love, since it has been impossi- 
ble for the author to listen to the narratives that fell from aged 
lips, recitals of their own youthful days, of the trials and hard- 
ships, of the joys and pleasures peculiar to the days that are no 
more, without entering into the spirit of the scenes described, 
and without feeling a tender veneration, a peculiar filial regard 
for those honored relics of the past. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER 1. 

INDIANS. 

Discovery of the Indians of New York ; Personal characteristics ; 
Dress and habits of living ; Religious customs ; Statements 
of early travelers ; Origin of the Iroquois Nation ; Formation 
of the Confederacy ; Forms of government ; Hieroglyphics and 
symbols ; Sketch of their history ; History of the Oneidas. 15 

. CHAPTER II. 

MADISON COUNTY. 

Territorial changes ; County of Tryon, Montgomery and Herki- 
mer; Formation of towns ; Formation of Chenango County 
and of Madison; Roads; Canals; Railroads; County 
Societies and Associations; County proceedings to 1810 ; 
County Courts ; Civil List ; Capital trials and convic- 
tions. ________ 123 

CHAPTER III. 

BROOKFIELD. 

Formation and geography of the town ; History of the Clinton 
Purchase of Chenango Twenty Towns ; Incidents; The Carr 
farm of Edmeston ; Operations of Joseph Brant in the days 
of the Revolution ; Stephen Hoxie and Daniel Brown the pio- 
neers ; Incidents ; Company of settlers in 1792 ; First mills ; 



> CONTENTS. 

Purchase of Michael Myers, Jedediah Sanger and John I. 
Morgan ; Anecdote of encounter with a bear ; Button's mill 
creek ; The falls ; Romantic scenery ; Old family burial 
grounds ; First improvements ; Early hamlets in the hill dis- 
tricts ; Home farm of John I. Morgan ; Babcock's mills ; LTna- 
dilla Forks ; Humorous anecdote ; Obituaries and sketches 
of pioneers ; Clarksville; Leonardsville ; Churches. 162 



CHAPTER IV. 

CAZENOVIA. 

Formation of the town ; Boundaries ; Geographical features ; 
Treaties of 1788 ; The Road Township purchased of the 
Indians ; Indian occupation of this land ; The Holland Com- 
pany J John Lincklaen's explorations ; Discovery of lake 
Owahgena ; The Holland Purchase ; The pioneer's journey ; 
Names of pioneers ; Rapid settlement ; Division of Road 
Township into four towns ; Laying out and naming of the 
village of Cazenovia ; Adventures with bears ; Early settlers ; 
First town officers ; Division of the town in 1798 ; Cazenovia 
village in 1803 ; Incorporation of Cazenovia village ; Enter- 
prise and progress ; Manufactories and business firms ; C. 
N. Y. Seminary ; Biographical sketch of Col. John Linck- 
laen ; Notices of prominent men ; New Woodstock ; Churches ; 
Newspapers. - - - -- - - 197 



CHAPTER V. 



DE RUYTER. 

Boundaries ; Lincklaen's purchase ; Original division of towns 
and their names ; naming of De Ruyter ; Party of pioneers ; 
Opening of Roads ; Historical incident ; Joseph Messenger ; 
Squire Samuel Thompson; Names of pioneers ; First death; 
First birth; First school ; De Ruyter village in 1805 ; First 
improvements at Shedd's Corners and early settlers in that 
vicinity ; Quaker Basin ; De Ruyter in 1809 ; Cold season of 
1816 ; Affecting incident; Inconveniences and privations; 
Customary amusements ; Incidents ; Schools and their teach- 
' ers ; Distinguished sons of De Ruyter ; S. D. B. Institute ; 
Biographical sketches ; Churches ; Newspapers. - 244 



CONTENTS. 1 1 

CHAPTER VL 

EATON. 

Boundaries ; Face of the country ; Lakes and streams ; Town- 
ship No, 2 ; Incidents in the first settlement ; Sketches of 
Pioneer families ; Indians ; Mills, roads and other improve- 
ments ; Log City now Eaton ; First houses, tavern, manufac- 
tures ; Incidents ; Masonic Lodge ; Morrisville ; The village 
before 1817 ; Location of the County Seat; Bennett Bick- 
nell ; Sketches of other prominent men ; Leeville, now West 
Eaton ; This village before 1840 ; Manufactures ; Enterprise 
and rapid progress ; Pratt's Hollow ; Its manufactures ; 
Pierceville ; Alderbrook ; Fanny Forester ; Newspapers ; 
Churches. - - ___-- 279 



CHAPTER VI L 



FENNER, 

Boundaries ; Geography ; Perryville Falls ; Productions ; An- 
cient route of armies; New Petersburgh Tract; Mile Strip; 
Early setdement ; Names of settlers ; Experience of pioneers ; 
Indians ; First improvements ; Early schools and meetings ; 
Incidents of first town meeting of Smithfield ; Town officers ; 
Organization and naming of town of Fenner ; Curious names 
of localities ; Fenner Corners ; Perryville ; Its rise and 
progress ; Oren S. Avery ; Chittenango Falls village ; Notices 
of early settlers ; Influential men ; Prominent families ; 
Churches. - - _ _ _ _ - 346 



CHAPTER VIII. 



GEORGETOWN. 

Boundaries ; Geography ; Township No. 6 ; Face of the coun- 
try ; First settler ; Sketch of the homes of other pioneers ; 
Louis Anathe Muller ; Muller Hill and its village and enter- 

; ' prises ; Strange oblivion over the family of Muller ; History 
of the estate to the present time ; Georgetown village and its 
enterprises ; Early church in the north part ; Prominent men 
of Georgetown ; First officers ; Dr. Whitmore ; Churches. 375 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

HAMILTON. 

Boundaries ; Face of country ; 4th Township ; Indians ; Curious 
relics ; Mary Antone ; Pioneer settlers ; Early Courts ; 
Customs of the times ; Rapid improvements ; Poolville ; 
East Hamilton ; Hubbardsville ; Hamilton Lodge F. & A. M.; 
Biographical sketches of Samuel and Elisha Payne, Gen. 
King and others ; Madison University ; Dr. Kendrick ; Dr. 
Hascall; Churches; Newspapers. _ _ _ 410 

CHAPTER X. 

LENOX. 

Boundaries ; Climate ; Geography ; Ancient occupation of the 
town by Indians ; Jesuit missions of the 17th century ; Eng- 
lish travelers ; Rev. Samuel Kirkland at Oneida Castle ; 
Traversing armies ; Travelers' statements ; First white set- 
tlers ; The Klocks ; Myndert Wemple ; Angel De Ferriere 
Wampsville ; Quality Hill ; Biographical ; Palmer Hill 
Oneida Castle and Skenandoah's home ; Lenox Furnace 
Canastota village, with biographical sketches ; Oneida village 
Oneida Community j Churches ; Newspapers. - 496 

CHAPTER XL 

LEBANON. 

Boundaries ; Geography ; Township No. 5 ; Pioneer settlement ; 
William S. and Justus B. Smith ; Naming of Lebanon ; 
Improvements ; Niles' settlement ; Death of Daniel Wheel- 
er in 1806 ; Primitive roads ; Wolf hunt ; Schools, teachers ; 
Lebanon village ; Spelling School ; Enterprises ; Churches. 543 

CHAPTER XII 

MADISON. 

Boundaries ; Notices of topography ; Evidences of Indian 
occupation ; Sir William Pultney's purchase ; Agents ; Sale 



CONTENTS. 13 

of lands to companies and settlers ; Names of pioneers and 
their places of location ; Incidents of primitive journeyings 
and pioneer life ; First improvements ; First taverns, mills, 
&c.; "Indian opening ;" First "4th of July" celebration ; 
Cherry Valley Turnpike ; Madison village ; Bouckville ; 
Solsville ; Chenango Canal ; Noted events of early days ; 
Prominent men ; Churches. . . . . . ^yg 



CHAPTER XIII. 

NELSON. 

Boundaries ; Geography ; Township No. i ; Large company of 
pioneers in 1793 ; Settlement of North East Quarter ; Rich- 
ardsons and other pioneers of the south part ; First tavern ; 
store, saw mill and grist mill ; Incidents ; Encounter with a 
bear; Deaths by accident; Nelson Flats ; Erieville. '617 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SULLIVAN. 

Boundaries ; Geography ; Ancient home of the Oneidas ; Home 
assigned the Tuscaroras ; The great trail ; Traversing armies ; 
Vrooman's adventure and its disastrous results ; The nine 
pioneer families of Sullivan ; Destruction of their homes ; 
Relics of the Vrooman expedition ; Louis Dennie ; First road 
through ] State Road and Seneca Turnpike ; Various land 
tracts ; Early settlers ; Sketches of their pioneer experience ; 
Discovery of Gypsum beds ; Canaseraga village ; Its progress ; 
Chittenango ; Its early enterprises ; Discovery of water lime ; 
Building up of manufactories ; Polj^techny ; First "4th of 
July" celebration in Chittenango ; Prominent men ; Early 
Railroad projects ; Chittenango Springs ; Bridgeport ; Inci- 
dents ; Northern Sullivan ; Biographical sketch of Hon. John 
B. Yates ; Churches. _____ 64^ 



CHAPTER XV. 

SMITHFIELD. 

Boundaries ; Geography ; New Petersburgh tract ; Adventures 
with Indians ; Original town of Smithfield ; Pioneer families 



14 CONTENTS. 

and early settlers; First enterprises ; Peterboro in 1806 ; 
Execution of Mary Antone ; Panther incident ; Notices of 
citizens ; Peterboro Academy ; Orphan Asylum ; Biographi- 
cal sketches ; Peter Smith ; Hon. Gerrit Smith ; Other pub- 
lic men ; Siloam ; Churches. _ _ _ _ (,g^ 



CHAPTERXVI. 

STOCKBRIDGE. 

Boundaries ; Geography ; Home of the Oneidas ; Evidences 
of an extinct race ; Early settlers ; Incidents ; Indian neigh- 
bors ; Indian relics ; The Oneida Stone ; Munnsville ; Stock- 
bridge ; Stockbridge Academy ; Prominent families ; Church- 
es. --------- 729 



INDIANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INDIANS. 

Discovery of the Indians of New York. — Personal character- 
istics. — Dress and habits of living. — Religious cutsoms. — 
Statements of early travelers. — Origin of the Iroquois Nation. 
— Formation of the Confederacy. — Forms of Government. — 
Hierogl3'phics and Symbols.: — Sketch of their History. — His- 
tory of the Oneidas. 

When the Europeans, impelled by the spirit of discovery, 
pressed their course into New York State, they found it to- 
be inhabited by a distinct and peculiar race of people. 
Their appearance and customs v^^ere a matter of great 
curiosity, and many of their usages evinced such wild and 
lawless habits, that they were at first regarded as a race 
possessing no redeeming attributes. This supposition, 
acted upon, has been the parent of much injustice done the 
face. On a nearer and more friendly acquaintance, a 
different opinion has been formed, and it has been found, 
that under the advantages of intellectual and religious 
culture, they possess noble qualities of mind, such as distin- 
guish their white brethren. 

In their physical jDroportions they were described as being 
tall and straight, small and lithe-waisted, having black ot 
dark-brown eyes, snow white teeth, straight black hair, 
cinnamon colored complexion and were active and sprightly. 

They were fond of display in dress, and indulged this taste 
to an extravagant degree. It is said by the early Dutch 



56 MADISON COUNTY, 

settlers that some of tlie highly ornamented petticoats of 
the Indian women were worth eighty dollars in the currency 
of the present day. That garment was made of dressed 
deer skin and was highly ornamented with sewant, or 
wampum ; this was made of beads, which were manu- 
factured of various kinds of shells, gay colored, and wrought 
into curious and artistic designs. Sewant was used for 
Indian money, hence its value as dress trimming. From a 
gaily ornamented belt or waist girdle this skirt was sus- 
pended. A mantle of skins was sometimes worn over the 
shoulders. The hair of the women was long and they often 
wore it plaited and rolled up behind, secured by ornamented 
bands of sewant. Curiously formed jewelry of various 
materials adorned their shapely arms, hands and necks, and 
pendants secured by bands, hung over their foreheads. 
Their feet were encased in handsomely embroidered moc- 
casins. 

The men wore upon their shoulders a mantle of deerskin, 
with the fur next their bodies, the opposite side of the 
garment displaying a variety of designs in paint. The edges 
of the mantle were trimmed with swinging points of fine 
material. Their heads were variously ornamented, sorne 
wearing feathers, others different articles of a showy 
character. Their hair was sometimes shaven close, except 
at the top of the head. They, as well as the women, adorned 
their necks and arms with ornaments of elaborate work- 
manship. They were accustomed to paint themselves in 
many colors and fashions, according to each individual taste. 
Their appearance when in full dress and paint struck the 
eyes of the Europeans as grotesque and frightful. 

They dwelt in villages, containing from thirty to several 
hundred souls. Their wigwams werfe made by placing in 
the ground two rows of upright saplings about twenty feet 
apart, when their tops were brought together and secured. 
Upon this framework was fastened a lathing of boughs, 
covered on the inside with strips of bark with such nicety 



INDIANS. \y 

as to make a good defense against the weather. The 
interior of the wigwam was without flooring, the winter fires 
being built upon the ground in the center, the smoke escap- 
ing through an opening in the roof. Sometimes the wigwams 
were made large to accommodate two families. Around 
the village, to secure them from enemies, was, a stockade of 
palisades, from ten to fifteen feet high. 

The Indian's most honorable calling, was to follow the 
war-path and bravely defend his tribe, and to sit in the 
great councils of the nation. But in time of peace they 
were employed in hunting and fishing, and the men were 
so trained that they were enabled, in a hunting expedition, 
to undergo great exertions, and prolonged fastings, with 
wonderful endurance. While the men secured the fish and 
game for winter, the women raised and secured the corn, 
and looked to the laying by of otKer stores, such as gather- 
ing and drying wild fruits and roots. 

The earliest travelers among them, found corn and beans 
quite extensively cultivated, the women performing the 
labor with a simple wooden hoe. A variety of dishes were 
formed from these products, not the least savory of which 
was " succotash " made from corn and beans, green, boiled 
together ; a sort of mush, made from pounded parched 
corn, mixed with the juice of wild apples, was highly 
regarded. Sometimes the corn was beaten up with pestles 
and boiled with water ; again it was roasted on the ear when 
green ; a variety of cakes were made from pounded corn, 
all of which were said to be palatable, even to the Europeans. 
As they ate they sat upon the ground, using no table ware, 
unless their wooden spoons might be named as such. 

In their religious belief they profoundly revered the 
Great Spirit, the Manitou, the one God their Father, and 
they paid devout attention to all the mysterious voices 
of nature. It was the audible voice of the Great Spirit 

B 



I 8 MADISON COUNTY, 

heard in thunder ; His mighty hand hurled the shaft of 
Kghtning ; from His breath burst the destructive hurricane ; 
His direct power veiled the sun or moon in eclipse ; all 
the varied phenomena of nature, they believed had some 
direct meaning to themselves, and they endeavored in 
religious forms and ceremonies, to propitiate the terrible 
and great Manitou, 

They believed that the spirits of their dead visited their 
neighborhood during the hours of night, and that they 
could distinguish their voices in the sighing of the wind 
through the forest, or in the cry of wild animals which 
approached their wigwams in search of food. When a 
panther's shriek was heard, they recognized the voice of 
some departed relative, full of warning and weird omens ; 
when the summer birds came with their gladsome music, 
through them the happy voices of their cherished dead told 
them not to weep for those who rested amid the flowery 
fields of the Spirit Land. 

When an Indian died, they placed the body in its grave^ 
defending it from contact with the earth by a siding of 
boughs. By the side of the deceased they placed various 
articles, viz : a kettle, platter and spoon, food and some 
money, his pipe and tobacco-pouch, hatchet and other 
weapons of defence, to serve the traveler on his journey 
to the land of spirits. All his costly garments of skins 
were wrapped about him in his grave. 

The resting place of their dead was guarded with rever- 
ential awe ; the graves of their fathers were held as sacred 
soil, and the burial grounds of their nation were fought for 
with religious zeal. 

To die the death of a stoic, without weakness or fear, 
was regarded as one of the heroic virtues, which was early 
instilled into the minds of the children. To utter a cry 
under severe torture would degrade the Indian warrior. 



INDIANS. 19 

The earliest writers state that the Indians " have a religion of 
their own, handed down from ancestor to ancestor. They say 
that mention was made by their forefathers for many thousand 
moons, of good and evil spirits, to whose honor it is supposed 
they burn fires and sacrifices. They wish to stand well with 
the good spirits ; they like exhortations about them. They 
are very much afraid of the dead, but when they perceive that 
one must die, they appear more ferocious than beasts. One of 
the Indians is elevated to the oflice similar to that of priest, who 
visits the sick, sits by him and bawls, roars and cries, like one 
possessed. The priest has no house of his own, but lodges 
where he pleases. He must eat no food cooked by a married 
woman ; it must be prepared by a maiden or old woman. 
When a child arrives at the age of twelve it is decided whether 
he can have this office or not, and if it is so ruled, he is elevated 
to that office. Becoming of suitable age and understanding, he 
undertakes the exercise of it. 

"They are great observers of the movements of the sun, 
moon and planets, and the women are most experienced star- 
gazers. There' is scarcely one of them but can name all the 
stars ; describe the time of their rising and setting, and are as 
familiar with the position of the constellations in the heavens, as 
are the Europeans, the difference being, they give them differ- 
ent names. By the different moons they calculate the seasons, 
and regulate their harvests. The first moon following that of 
the end of February is honored with great devotion, and as it 
rises, they compliment it with a great festival. They are col- 
lected together from all quarters, and revel after their fashion, 
feast with wild game and fish, drink clear river water to their fill, 
without being intoxicated. This moon, being the harbinger of 
spring, is the beginning of the year. In Virginia they then 
prepare for the planting. As the harvest approaches, at the 
August new moon, they again celebrate with another festival. 

"The names of their months are these: — Cuerano, the first 
V\'ith them, February ; 2 Wcer-hemska ; 3 Heemskan ; 4 Onera- 
tacka; 5 Onerafack, then they begin to sow and plant ; 6 Haga- 
rert ; 7 jfakouvaratta : 8 Hatterhonagat ; 9 Genhendasta, then 



20 MADISON COUNTY. 

grain and everything is ripe; lo Digojeiijattha, then is the seed 
boused. Of January and December they take no note, being 
of no use to them. 

" Their numerals run no higher than ours, twenty being twice 
ten. When they ask for twenty, they stick the ten fingers up 
and with them turn to the ten toes of the feet. They count, 
Honslot, Tegeni, Hasse, Kajeri, Wisk, jfajack, Satac/i, Siattege, 
Tiochte, Ojeri. 

" When a youth courts a girl, he buys her generally in a neigh- 
boring village, and this done, the damsel is then delivered to 
him by two or three other women, who come carrying on their 
heads, meal, roots, corn and other articles, to the young man's 
hut, and he receives her. It is common for a man to buy and 
have several wives, but not in one place. When he journeys 
five or six miles he finds another wife, who takes care of him as 
his -first does ; five or ten miles further he again finds another 
wife who keeps house, and so on to several. 

"Chastity is held in considerable esteem among the women, 
and as they are living without law, they are restrained through 
fear of the husband. It excites little attention if any one of the 
Indians abandons his wife. In case she have children they fol- 
low her. Whilst rearing their offspring the mother exhibits great 
tenderness. Each highly esteem their own children, who grow 
up v'ery lively. The men scarcely ever labor, except to provide 
game for cooking ; the women must attend to the remainder, 
such as tilling the soil, gathering the crops, &'Z., as well as 
cooking. 

" What is very strange among this almost barbarous people, 
there are few or none cross-eyed, blind, crippled, lame or hunch- 
backed ; all are well fashioned people ; strong in constitution of 
body, well proportioned, without blemish. In some places they 
have abundant means, with herbs, leaves and roots, to ad- 
minister to their sick ; there is scarcely an ailment they have 
not a remedy for." 

The above was written in 1624, by the Germans, who 
had seen the Indians of New York State, at New York 
Bay and on the Hudson. They carried back to Europe 



INDIANS, 



21 



the impressions they received of this wonderful country 
and its natives. But as they had then seen nothing of the 
interior of the Indian country, their opinions of the great 
Terra Incogniia were vague and extravagant. Referring to 
the numerous lakes of New York and Michigan, they make 
this statement : The Indians "who come from the mterior, 
yea thirty days' journey, declare there is considerable water 
everywhere, and that the upper country (Michigan) is 
marshy ; they make mention of great freshets which lay 
waste their lands, so that what many say may be true, that 
Hudson's Bay runs through to the South Sea, and is navi- 
gable, except when obstructed by ice to the northward. It 
were desirable that this were once proved. . Those who 
made the voyage are of the same opinion, as they found an 
open sea, a rapid current, and whales [?]." 

The Dutch found that among the Maikins (a tribe living 
near Fort Orange, or Albany, which were probably of the 
Mohawks,) there was a belief that the soul on separating 
from the body went up westward, where it was met with 
great rejoicing by those who had died previously ; that 
they wore black otter or bear skin, which to them is a sign 
of oladness. The captain of the Maikins who was named 
Cat" believed that death was the offspring of the Devil who 
is evil. A skipper denied this, saying that God had control 
over death. The Maikin captain asked if God being good, 
had the power to give and take away life, and he was 
answered "yea." This the Indian could not understand, 
how this good God should inflict evil, that is, death. 

Such was the condition, the habits and character of the 
Indians of New York State, betore white men settled 
among them, and it is well for the European that the 
Indian had no historian of his own. There is sufficient in 
the statements of the early voyagers hither, from their own 
testimonies, to condemn them, and palliate the indignities 
and crimes which the Indians have visited upon the Euro- 



22 • MADISON COUNTY. 

pean settlers. The Indians have, however, treasured up 
the history of their wrongs in tradition, which has descended 
from father to son. It is a history full of injuries which bred 
hatred, growing stronger from century to century, and is 
the excuse for all the barbarities perpetrated upon innocent, 
unoffending white persons, and the parent of the hatred 
exhibited by the red men of the West. From a letter 
written by John De Verrazana to his king, Francis I, of 
France, in 1525, when he first discovered New York Bay, 
this position is justified. He landed first in North Caro- 
lina. He says : — 

" Great store of people came to the sea-side and seeing us 
approach they fled away, and sometimes would stand and look 
back, beholding us with great admiration ; but afterwards, being 
animated and assured with signs that we made them, some of 
them came hard to the sea-side, seeming to rejoice very much 
at the sight of us, and marveling greatly at our apparel, shape, 
and whiteness ; showed us by sundry signs where we might 
most commodiously come to land with our boat, offering us 
also victuals to eat Remaining there for a few days, and tak- 
ing note of the country he sailed northwardly, and viewed, if he 
did not enter, the harbor of New York. In the haven of New- 
port he remained for fifteen days, where he found the natives 
the goodliest people he had seen in his voyage. At one period 
during his coasting along the shores of New England, he was 
compelled for the sake of fresh water, to send off his boat. The 
shore was lined with savages, ' whose countenances betrayed at 
the same time, surprise, joy, and fear.' They made signs of 
friendship, and ' showed they were content we should come to 
land.' A boat with twenty-five men attempted to land with 
some presents, but on nearing the shore were intimidated by 
the frightful appearance of the natives, and halted to turn back. 
One, more resolute t-han the rest, seizing a few of the articles 
designed as presents, plunged into the water and advanced 
within three or four yards of the shore. Throwing them the 
presents, he attempted to regain the boat, but was caught by a 
wave and dashed upon the beach. The savages caught him. 



INDIANS. ■ 23 

find sitting him down by a large fire, took off his clothes. His 
comrades supposed he was to be roasted and eat. Their fears 
subsided, however, when they saw them testify their kindness by 
caresses. It turned out that they were only gratifying their 
curiosity in an examination of his person, the whiteness of his 
skin, <5^•c. They released him and after ' with great love clasp- 
ing him fast about ' they allowed him to swim to his comrades. 
Verrazana found the natives of the more northern regions more 
hostile and jealous, from having, as has been inferred, been 
visited for the purpose of carrying them off as slaves. At 
another anchorage, after following the shore fifty leagues, an 
''old woman with a young maid eighteen years old, seeing our 
company, hid themselves in the grass for fear ; the old woman 
carried two infants on her shoulders, and behind her neck a child 
of eight years old. The young woman was laden likewise with as 
many ; but when our men came unto them the v/omen cried out ; 
the old woman made signs that the men had fled into the 
woods. As soon as they saw us, to quiet them, and to win 
their favor, our men gave them such victuals as they had with 
-them to eat, which the old woman received thankfully, but the 
young woman threw them disdainfully on the ground. They 
took a child from the old woman to bring into France ; and 
going about to take the young woman, which was very beautiful 
and tall of stature, they could not possibly, for the great out- 
cries she made, bring her to the sea ; and especially having great 
woods to pass through, and being far from the ship, we proposed 
to leave her behind, bearing away the child only.' At another 
anchorage* 'there ran down into the sea an exceeding great 
stream of water, which at the mouth was very deep, and from 
the sea to the mouth of the same, with the tide which they 
found to raise eight foote, any great ship laden, might pass up.' 
Sending up their boat, the natives expressed their admiration, 
and showed them where they might safely come to land. They 
went up the river half a league where it made a ' most pleasant 
lake about three leagues in compass, on which the natives rode 
from one side to the other to the number of thirty of their small 
iboats, wherein were many people which passed from one shore 

* OtF Sandy Hook, as has been inferred- 



24 MADISON COUNTY. 

to the Other.' At another anchorage they 'met the goodliest 
people, and of the fairest condition they had found in their 
voyage ; — exceeding us in bigness — of the color of brasse,, 
some inclining to whiteness, black and quick e3fed, of sweet and 
pleasant countenance imitating much the old fashion.' Among 
them, they discovered pieces of wrought copper, which the^ 
' esteemed more than gold.' ' They did not desire cloth of silk, 
or of gold, or of other sort, neither did they care for things made 
of steel or iron, which we often showed them in our armour, 
which they made no wonder at ; and in beholding them they 
only asked the art of making them ; the like they did at our 
glasses, which when they suddenly beheld, they laughed and 
gave us again.' The ship neared the land and finally cast 
anchor ' in the haven,' when, continues Verrazana, ' we bestowed 
fifteen days in providing ourselves with many necessary things, 
whither every day the people repaired to see our ship, bringing 
their wives with them whereof they were very jealous ; and they 
themselves entering aboard the ship and staying there a good 
space, caused their wives to stay in their boats ; and for all the 
entreaty we could make, offering to give them divers things, we 
could never obtain that they should suffer to come aboard our 
ship. Oftentimes one of the two kings (of this people) com- 
ing .with his queen, and many gentlemen, for their pleasure to. 
see us, they all staid on shore two hundred paces from us till, 
they sent a message they were coming. The queen and her 
maides staid in a very light boat at an island a quarter of a 
league off, while the king abode a long space in the ship, utter- 
ing divers conceits with gestures, viewing with great admiration 
the ship, demanding the property of everything particularly.' 
' There were plaines twenty-five or thirty leagues in width, which 
were open and without any impediment.' They entered the 
woods and found them 'so great and thick, that an army were it 
ever so great might have hid itself therein ; the trees whereof 
are of oak, cipresse and other sorts unknown in Europe.' The 
natives fed oa pulse that grew in the country with better hus- 
bandry than in the others. They observe in their sowing the 
course of the moone and the rising of certain starres, and divers- 
other customs spoken of by antiquity. They dwell together ia 



INDIANS. 25 

great numbers, some twenty-five or thirty persons in one house. 
They are very pitiful and charitable towards their neighbors, 
.they make great lamentations in their adversitie, and in their 
miserie, the kindred reckone up all their felicitie. At their 
departure out of life they use mourning mixed with singing 
which continueth for a long space." 

When Columbus v^^ith his crew of white men landed on 
American shores the Indians regarded them with awe and 
wonder, and, on account of the whiteness of their complexion, 
believing them to be supernatural beings, a veneration took 
possession of them, which knowledge of their earthly origin 
did not entirely eradicate for ages. Hence when Vespucius 
Americus landed he was treated as a superior being. 
When later voyagers, the Cabots and Cartier came, when 
the French settled in Florida, when Sir Walter Raleigh 
first settled in Virginia, when Hudson discovered and 
sailed his vessel up the river which bears his name, when 
the Pilgrims colonized New England, the Indians received 
them with demonstrations of reverence, affection and gen- 
erosity. In the first report of Sir Walter Raleigh's ex- 
pedition, in 1584, it is said that "they were entertained with 
as much bounty as they could possibly devise. They 
found the people most gentle, loving and faithful, void of 
all guile and treason, and such as live after the manner of 
the golden age." The first sermon preached in New Eng- 
land, date of Dec, 1621, has in it the following in reference 
to the Indians : — ■" To us they have been like lambs, so kind, 
so submissive and trusty, as a man may truly say many 
christians are not so kind and sincere. When we first 
came into this country, we were lew, and many oi us were 
sick, and many died by reason of the cold and wet, it 
being the depth of winter, and we having no houses or 
shelter; yet when there were not six able persons among 
us, they came daily to us by hundreds with their sachems 
or kings, and might in one hour have made a dispatch of 
us,' yet they never offered us the least injury. The greatest 



26 MADISON COUNTY. 

commander in the country called Massasoit cometTi often to 
visit us, though he lives fifty miles from us, often sends us 
presents, &c." 

Individuals with motives of cupidity, basely took advan- 
tage of their evident simplicity, which roused the latent 
brute qualities of the Indian nature. The Spaniards and 
Portugese immediately followed up their first intercourse 
with them by carrying them into captivity. The Indian's 
simple creed taught him revenge and hatred. The result 
of this unhappy intercourse with the Spaniards prompted 
the following remarks from Kotzebue : — Wherever they 
moved in anger, desolation tracked their progress, wherever 
they paused in amity, affliction mourned their friendship." 

Close upon the footsteps of these injuries, instruments 
•of revenge were given them, — fire-arms and fire-water. 
Henry Hudson in 1609, on his first visit to New York 
State, discovered to them the use of fire-arms, (they had 
previously used the bow and arrow, in which they were v/ell 
skilled,) and taught them the greater evil, intemperance. 

Hudson's account gives the following : — " While his 
vessel lay in the river (near Albany it is inferred) 'great 
multitudes flocked on board to survey the wonder.' In 
order to discover whether ' any of the chief men of the 
country had any treacherie in them, our master and mate 
took them into the cabin and gave them so much wine and 
aqua vitae, that they were all merrie ; and one of them had 
his wife with him, which sat so modestly as any of our 
counterey women, would doe in a strange plaice.' One of 
them became intoxicated, staggered and fell, at which the 
natives were astonished. It * was strange to them, for 
they could not tell how to take it. They all hurried 
ashore in their canoes. The intoxicated Indian remaining 
and sleeping on board all night, the next day, others ven- 
tured on board and finding him recovered, and well, they 
were highly gratified. He was a chiefl In the afternoon 



INDIANS. 27 

they repeated their visits, brought tobacco ' and beads and 
gave them to our master, and made an oration showing him 
all the country round about. They took on board a platter 
of venison, dressed in their own style, and 'caused him to 
eate with them : — then they made him reverence, and 
departed all,' except the old chief, who having got a taste 
of the fatal beverage chose to remain longer on board." 
Thus were the aborigines first made acquainted with what 
they afterwards termed ''fire-water" and " aptly enough," says 
Turner, " for it has helped to consume them." 

In the ye'ar 1614, Lambrecht Van Twenhuyzen, a skipper 
who came in to buy furs, thus speaks of the simplicity of 
the natives : — " When they first beheld the large dogs on 
board ship, they were much surprized and afraid, calling it 
a Sachem of dogs. Their dogs were all small. The 
dog tied on ship board was very furious against them sup- 
posing them, their being clad in skins, to be beasts, giving 
hini an idea they were game ; but when they gave him 
bread made of Indian corn, he learned to distinguish that 
they were men. The skipper presented the dog to them at 
which they were greatly pleased." 

• The history of the manner in which the Dutch established 
themselves among the Indians is the earliest and most 
minute history we have of the natives of New York. The 
abundance and cheapness of furs induced the Dutch East 
India Company to engage in this profitable trade. In 16 10, 
a ship was sent by some merchants in Amsterdam to pur- 
chase furs, and soon several others followed. In 161 3, two 
trading forts were erected on the river and four houses were 
built on Manhattan Island. In 1614, the States General of 
the United Netherlands passed an ordinance granting all 
original discoverers in North Atjierica the right of making 
four voyages to such land as they had discovered for pur- 
poses of trade. The discoverers formed a company called 
the United New Netherlands Company, and erected, a trad- 



28 MADISON COUNTY, 

ing house on the Island near Albany and had it garrisoned 
with ten or twelve men. Another fort was erected at the 
southern point of Manhattan's Island, and men were sent in 
every direction to solicit trade from the Indians. 

In 1618, a flood in the North River (Hudson) injured the 
Company's fort at Castle Island near Albany, and it was 
removed to Norman's Kill, a few miles below. Here they 
made a treaty with the Five Nations. This company 
increased in power, and in view of the immense profits 
accruing from the exports of the country, decided to plant 
a colony, and in 1623, a ship came over from Holland bring- 
ing emigrants, and eighteen families settled at a small 
fort which was called Fort Orange (Albany), It is stated 
by Catelyn Trico, the first white woman in Albany, that 
"as soon as they had built themselves some huts of bark, 
the river Indians, the Maques, Oneydes, Onondages, Cay- 
ugas, Sennekas, with the Mahawawas, or Otawawas, came 
and made covenants of friendship, bringing great presents 
of peltry, and desired to have a constant free trade with 
them, which was concluded upon, and during the three years 
she lived there they came daily to trade with all the free- 
dom imaginable, and were gentle and quiet as lambs." 

The fur trade now flourished. The forests of central and 
western New York, abounding in bear, otter and beaver, 
furnished many canoe loads which were moved over Lake 
Oneida, and down the Mohawk river to Albany, In Dec, 
1624, a cargo from America of five hundred otter skins, 
fifteen hundred beaver and some other freight to the value 
of about ^12,000, was sold in Amsterdam, Vessels in re- 
turning to America brought with them cattle, horses, sheep 
and hogs, which were viewed by the natives with curiosity 
and surprise. In Sep., 1626, a ship sailed out to Amsterdam 
laden with 7,246 beaver skins, 675 otter, 48 mink, 36 wild 
cat skins and various other sorts ; thus the fur trade grew 
to be an extensive commerce. 



INDIANS, 2g 

The Dutch rapidly increased in the province of New 
Netherlands, and grants of large tracts of land were 
obtained by individuals, extending far into the wilderness 
amidst the habitations of the Five Nations. The wealthy 
patrons of these vast estates made great efforts to colonize 
them. Killian Van Renssellaer, a pearl merchant of Amster- 
dam, secured a tract on the west side of the Hudson, em- 
bracing the site of the present city of Albany, His tract 
was twenty-four miles long and forty-eight broad, and was 
named Renssellaerwyck. Mr. Van Renssellaer did not re- 
side in this colony, but confined its management to a Com-' 
missary General or Superintendent, which office was filled 
for many years by Arendt Van Curler or Corlear, a most 
worthy and excellent man, who gained the esteem and love 
of the Indians of all the nations about him, insomuch that 
the name of Corlear became as a household word among 
them, — a synonym of all that was noble, — ^and subsequently, 
to all governors of the State, for whom they entertained 
especial respect, they gave this endearing title. During 
the period from 1640 to '45, when the first Indian war was 
agitating the province, the colony of Renssellaerwyck, 
under Corlear's admirable administration in cultivating the 
friendship of the adjacent tribes, was undisturbed, the in- 
habitants peacefully pursuing their avocations. 

The competition among fur traders wrought out a most 
mischievous train of events. The tricks practiced by these 
traders upon the Indians, were speedily learned by them and 
played back upon the white man. Misunderstandings arose, 
misconstruction added to ignorance, jealousies were engen- 
dered, and at length a hatred was kindled only to be eradi- 
' cated by blood. In 1640, an expedition went out from Man- 
hattan against the Raritans, inhabiting the main land be- 
hind Staten Island, who were accused of having stolen some 
hogs, which allegation, however, proved to be a mistake. 
Arriving at the Indian village at an unexpected time, they 



30 MADISON COUNTV. 

plundered' the village, slaughtered several of the inhabitants, 
burnt their crops and returned home without the loss of a 
single man (!) This act impelled the Indians to retaliate, 
and for the next two years acts of cruelty and revenge, in 
which they indulged, are recorded. 

In the mean time the Mohawks, who were at enmity to 
some of the River Indians, made a descent upon them. 
They fled to the protection of the Dutch at Manhattan, and 
by them were fed for a fortnight. While they were thus under 
the protecting wing of the city and the Mohawks encamped 
near by, two parties of Dutch sailed out, one to destroy the 
weak band of Indians who now lay at Corlear s Hook, the 
other to make a descent upon the Mohawks who lay at 
Pavonia, thus wreaking vengeance upon all tribes of Indians 
alike, whether friend or foe. Eighty Indians were killed at 
Pavonia, and thirty at Corlear's Hook. These were of all 
ages and both sexes, and no barbarity was too shocking to 
be inflicted upon them. Thirty prisoners, and the heads of 
several of those who had been killed were brought in by 
the returning parties. 

This proceeding aroused to frenzy the indignation of all 
the neighboring nations and eleven different tribes pro- 
claimed war against the Dutch. This produced the first 
Indian war in New York, in 1642. A terrible state of 
affairs continued, till by mere force of arms the Dutch 
prevailed and peace was restored in April, 1644. In 1645, 
through the powerful intervention of the Mohawks, who 
were at that time called the " Kings of the forest," a treaty 
of peace was concluded with most of the Indian tribes, and 
during the subsequent years when animosities were increas- 
ing between the Dutch and English, the Indians took but 
little part in the disturbances. 

The English were now last populating New England and 
Virginia, and the province of New Netherlands had within 
its' borders many English settlers. Disturbances, arising 



INDIANS. 31 

from rival claims of colonists of different nationalities, and 
opposite religions, were servin'g to weaken and lay New 
Netherlands powerless to. the aggressions of the English,, 
and final usurpation of this territory by Charles the II, 
King of England, in 1664. Throughout the course of this 
agitation, the Indians maintained their neutral position. 
Cognizant of the change in government, they wisely held 
their peace, and willingly submitted to the powers that 
were. As they had done to the Dutch, so now to the 
English, they acknowledged their allegiance, and with many 
tokens cemented the chain of friendship. 

This remarkable confederacy possessed the control of 
New York State when it was first discovered, and was com- 
posed of a race of men who it is said were distinguished 
above all the other aborigines of this continent for their 
intelligence and prowess. 

Five distinct and independent tribes, the Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, speaking a 
language radically the same and practicing similar customs, 
had united in forming this confederacy, which for durabil- 
ity and power was unequalled in Indian history. By the 
French they were called the Iroquois, by the English the 
Five Nations, but they distinguished themselves by the 
euplionious name, Ko-nosh-i-o-ni, the signification of which 
is, " People of the Long-House" or " People of Many Fires." 
This application refers to the union of the several tribes, 
thus forming the " Long-House," with the Mohawks at the 
eastern, and the Senecas at the western doors. With them 
the fires upon the domestic hearth-stone was invested with 
peculiar sacredness, and they looked upon their confedera- 
tion as the union of so many fires or homes. 

It is believed that the Iroquois succeeded a race who 
were farther advanced in the arts and in civilization than 
themselves, and who were the builders of the mounds and 
other structures, found in the western part of this State 



32 . MADISON COUNTVi, 

and in Ohio. Yet tlie origin of the Iroquois is unknown. 
It is beheved by early writers that they emigrated from the 
country around Montreal, were dependents of the Algon- 
quins, but becoming troublesome to their masters, the latter 
drove them from their country, but they finally conquered 
their masters and destroyed their power. 

According to a tradition which was current among all 
the tribes, and was written out by David Cusick, the Tus- 
carora historian : — " The Holder of the Heavens took the 
Indians out of a hill near Oswego Falls, and led them to 
and down the Mohawk and Hudson rivers to the sea. 
There they became scattered, but their great leader brought 
six families back to the junction of the Hudson and Mo- 
hawk, and then proceeding westerly. He planted the Five 
Nations, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and 
Senecas, by leaving a family at the location of each, giving 
them names, and slightly changing the language of each. 
With the sixth family He proceeded on between mid-day 
and sun-set, to the Mississippi River, which part of them 
crossed upon a grape vine, but the vine breaking, those on 
this side travelled easterly to the neighborhood of the oceans 
and settled upon the Neuse River, in North Carolina. This 
last was the Tuscarora tribe. 

Pyrlaus a Dutch missionary among the Mohawks at Fort 
Hunter wrote, between 1742 and 1748, that the result of 
his best conjectures and information was that the Iroquois 
Confederacy, or League of the Five Nations, was formed 
about one age, or the length of a man's life prior to the 
arrival of the Dutch, which would fix the date at about 
1530, or 1535. 

Whatever may have been their age, they had become a 
great and powerful nation by the time the Europeans settled 
New York. Their territory extended " from the mouth of 
Sorrell River, on the south side ot Lakes Erie and Ontario, 
on both sides of the Ohio till it falls into the Mississippi ; 



INDIANS. 33 

and on the north side of those lakes, that whole territory 
between the Ottaway River and Lake Huron, and even 
beyond the straits between that and Lake Erie." These 
they claimed as their actual possessions in their settlement 
with the English, but their power extended from the Con- 
necticut River, and from Canada to the banks of the 
Mississippi, almost to the Gulf of Mexico. They exacted 
obedience fron the Indians on the banks of the Hudson, 
Delaware and Connecticut Rivers, and from those on Long 
Island and the north shore of the Sound. Formidable 
for their valor in battle, their number and their skill, they 
excited respect and awe in the most powerful tribes, and 
"nations trembled when they heard the name of the 
Konoshioni." 

IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY. 

The formation of the Confederacy, tradition attributes to 
a "wise man," Daganoweda of the Onondaga Nation, who 
devised this plan to protect them from invaders, and for the 
common good of the five families. Onondaga being about 
the center of their territory, was made the place for the cen- 
tral or grand council fire. The supreme power of the Con- 
federacy was vested in a Congress of Sachems, fifty in num- 
ber. The Mohawks were entitled to nine representatives, 
the Oneidas nine, the Onondagas fourteen, the Cayugas 
ten, the Senecas eight. These were apportioned to the 
numbers of each nation, therefore at its origin the Ononda- 
gas were the strongest. 

The Sachems were " raised up," not by their own nation, 
but by a council of all the Sachems. In this " Council of 
the League " resided the Executive, Legislative and Judi- 
cial authority. In their own nations at home these 
Sachems were the Governors, administering after the fash- 
ion of the general government, with similar councils and 
forms. There was also a chief Sachem in each nation an- 
swering to the chief Sachem at the grand Onondaga Coun- 
c 



34 MADISON COUNTY. 

cil. The latter was regarded as the head of the whole Con- 
federacy, similar to our President. Although his office was 
so high, yet his prerogatives were only such as were tacitly 
allowed or conceded. His position was hereditary, derived, 
says tradition, from an Onondaga Chief, Ta-do-da-hoh, who 
was co-temporary with the formation of the Confederacy, 
and was famous as a chief and warrior, " Down to this 
day," says one writer, " among the Iroquois, his name is the 
personification of heroism, forecast and dignity of character," 
He was reluctant to consent to the new order of things, for 
he had previously rendered himself illustrious for his mili- 
tary achievements, and he would now be shorn of his power, 
and be placed among a number of equals. To remove this ob- 
jection, his sachemship was dignified above the others, by 
certain special privileges not inconsistent, however, with an 
equal distribution of powers ; and from that day to the 
present, this title has been regarded as more noble and il- 
lustrious in the catalogue of Iroquois nobility. This Ta- 
do-da-hoh, is the At-to-tar-ho of Cusick, who has pictured 
his hero as invested with attributes more than human. 
His representation is of a monarch quietly smoking, while 
an embassy of Mohawks have come to confer with him in 
regard to the formation of the League. He is seated in 
the shadow of one of the almost impenetrable marshes of 
Onondaga ; he is clothed in living serpents whose hissing 
heads are extended in every direction. His dishes and 
spoons were made of the skulls of his enemies, slain in bat- 
tle. Inspired with awe and respect, the Mohawks approach 
him, proffer their presents, smoke their pipes of peace and 
friendship, and place him at the head of the League as 
Chief Officer. 

In this combination of five independent nations, all sub- 
ordinate to the general government, there arose no clashing 
of interests ; this was occasioned by the fact that the rulers 
of the subordinate government were the rulers of the gen- 



INDIANS. 35 

eral government, who regulated all conflicting interests in 
General Council. In cases of emergency, each nation acted 
independently, but the General Council decided upon peace 
or war, and all other matters which regarded the interests 
of the whole. Although such momentous questions were 
decided by the Sachems, yet such was the spirit of this 
system of government, that the influence of the inferior 
chiefs, the warriors, and even the women, would make itself 
felt when the subject was of general interest and had 
aroused public feeling. 

The office of Sachem was hereditary, but the chief 
Sachem was generally chosen for his talents, and usually 
was designated as the speaker. 

There were the same number of war Chiefs in each na- 
tion as Sachems, who were subordinate to the civil com- 
mands of the council ; but if the two, a war Chief and a 
Sachem went out to war together, the authority was there 
reversed ; the war Chief was supreme, the Sachem a sub- 
ordinate in the ranks. The supreme command in war was 
delegated to two Chiefs raised up as the Sachems were, 
their office hereditary. They were in all cases to be of 
the Seneca Nation, as this was looked upon as the door 
whence invaders would approach, and they were ever ex- 
pected to be on their guard. 

Other classes of officers that have appeared in the Con- 
federacy, have been elected from time to time as emergency 
called for them, their powers being originally confined to the 
local affairs of their respective nations ; they were home 
counsellors of the Sachems, but in process of time arrived 
at equal authority. 

The machinery ot this government was exceedingly sim- 
ple and sat lightly upon the people. To govern as little as 
possible seemed their aim, thereby recognizing the funda- 
mental principle of more enlightened nations, that happiness 



36 MADISON COUNTY. 

results from the largest liberty consistent with the public 
welfare. 

The Iroquois Nation or Hodenosaunee,* (Tribal League) 
consisted of eight tribes, arranged in two divisions and 
named as follows : — Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle; Deer, Snipe, 
Heron, Hawk. 

In the formation of a tribe, a portion was taken from 
many households and bound together by a tribal bond, 
which bond consisted of the ties of consanguinity, for all 
the members were connected by relationship, which under 
their law of descent was clearly traceable. 

These tribes thus organized, were each divided into five 
parts, one-fifth placed in each of the Five Nations, thus 
giving to each nation eight tribes. Between the separated 
parts of each tribe, there existed a tie of brotherhood which 
linked the nations together by an indissoluble bond. With 
the ties of kindred as its principle of union, the whole race 
was interwoven into one great family. Thus, the Turtle 
tribe of Mohawk, recognizes the Turtle tribe of the Oneidas 
as his brother, and so on through the whole Six Nations, 
the same tribe are the brethren of each other through the 
ties of consanguinity. Each tribe paints the animal deno- 
ting their tribe on their cabins, and often on their dress. 

The marriage institution was regulated with reference to 
the relationship of tribes, and those who were kindred to 
each other, that is, of the same tribe, were prohibited inter- 
marrying. 

The Wolf, Bear, Beaver and Turtle, were in the original 
arrangement, considered brothers to each other, from near 
relationship, and were not to intermarry, also Deer, Snipe, 
Heron and Hawk, were brothers and prohibited intermarry- 
ing, but either of the first four could intermarry with the 
last four. This system yielded in process of time, and they 
were allowed to marry with any tribe but their own. 

*See Turner's Hist. Holland Purchase, page 53. 



INDIANS. 



2>7 



The children always followed the tribe of the mother, 
and the transmission of all titles, rights, and property were 
in the female line. For instance, if the Sachemship or 
war-chief-ship of a nation, at the original distribution of 
these offices, was given to one in the Deer tribe of that 
nation, the descent of this title being limited to the female 
line, it could never, by any means pass out of this tribe ; 
for the child is known to be the son of his mother, but is 
not neccessarily the son of his mother's husband. The 
individuality given the tribe by being the parent of a 
Sachem, made it a matter of pride to guard that right with 
jealous care. When the Sachem died the title did not pass 
to his son, as the child was a member of the tribe of his 
mother, but it passed to the Sachem's brother, or to his 
sister's son, or under circumstances of incapacity in that 
line, to some individual of the tribe at large, who were in 
fact all brothers. In this manner the office was both elec- 
tive and hereditary. There was no law which established a 
preference between the brother or nephew ; neither between 
several brothers, or several sons of sisters. Neither was 
there any positive law that the choice should embrace the 
near relatives of the deceased, before a selection could be 
made from the tribe at large. Therefore it was only custo- 
marily hereditary through respect to the memory of the 
deceased ; but it was positively hereditary to the tribe, and 
within its limits there was no law to prevent its being elective. 

The selection of a Sachem on the decease of a ruler was 
effected by the assembling of a tribal council If there was 
no one eligible among the relations of the deceased, one 
was chosen from the tribe whose sagacity, wisdom and 
prowess merited the position. Having determined their 
choice, a council of the nation is called in the name of the 
deceased, of all the Sachems of the League, and the new 
Sachem is " raised up " by such council, and invested with 
his office. 



38 MADISON COUNTY. 

The Sachems, as well as war Chiefs, receive nothing but 
the honors of the office as compensation for their services. 
When off duty they were obliged to maintain themselves like 
other men. li by misconduct the Sachem or Chief was found 
unworthy of authority, a tribal council deposes him, a suc- 
cessor is selected and invested with authority, while he is 
subjected to public scorn and degradation. 

To the tribe was secured the certainty of descent in the 
female line — the prohibition of intermarrying was positive — 
while it had the capacity of holding and exercising political 
rights, and the ability to contract and sustain relationship 
with the other tribes. 

The wife, her children, and her descendants in perpetuity 
were linked with the destinies of her own tribe and kindred, 
while the husband, his brothers and sisters, and the de- 
scendants of the latter in the female line, would in like 
manner, be united to another tribe and held by its affinities. 
By this rule of marrying into the tribes not connected, the 
League of the Nation was cemented ; if one nation warred 
against another, he would war against his brother or his 
cousin. Joncaire says, " the Nations have this in common ; 
a man who goes to war denotes himself as much by the de- 
vice of his wife's tribe, as by that of his own, and never 
marries a woman who carries a similar device to his own." 

There was thus constructed a plan to prevent degeneracy 
of the race, and a bond of union between the different 
tribes, and of the different nations also, which is likened to 
the symbolical chain with its many links, all connected, in- 
terwoven, perfect in its simple arrangement, far-reaching 
and strong. 

The Chief Sachem of the Confederacy had the authority 
to assemble a General Congress, or to light the "Grand 
Council fire," which he did by sending out runners to all 
the nations with belts of wampum, indicating the nature of 



INDIANS. 39 

the business on hand. Upon important occasions nearly 
the whole Confederacy would flock to Onondaga, the 
grand Council seat. Assembled there, the Council was 
classed in two divisions ranged on opposite sides of the 
council-fire. The subject was then discussed on the one 
side and the other, with great ceremony. To avoid alter- 
cation in council, and to facilitate unanimity, the Sachems 
of each nation were divided into classes of two and three 
each. Each Sachem was forbidden to express an opinion, 
until he had agreed with the others of his class, and had 
been appointed by them to act as speaker. In this manner 
each class was brought to unanimity within itself The 
representative Sachem of each class of the nation then held 
a consultation between themselves, and when they had 
agreed, they appointed one of their number to express their 
opinion which was the answer of the nation. The several 
nations having by this ingenious method become of " one 
mind" separately, it remained to compare their several 
opinions, to arrive at the final sentiment of all the nations of 
the League. This was effected by a cross conference be- 
tween the individual representatives of the several nations, 
and when they had arrived at unanimity, the answer of the 
Confederacy was determined. Thus unanimity became the 
fundamental law. 

"Still further to illustrate the characteristics of the 
tribes of the Iroquois, some reference to their mode of 
bestowing names would not be inapt. Soon after the birth 
of an infant, the near relatives of the same tribe, select a 
name. At the first subsequent council of the nation, the 
birth and name were publicly announced, together with the 
name and tribe of the father, and the name and tribe of the 
mother. In each nation the proper names were so strong- 
ly marked by a tribal peculiarity, that the tribe of the in- 
dividual could usually be determined from the name alone. 
Making as they did, a part of their language, they were 



40 MADISON COUNTV. 

consequently all significant. When an individual was 
raised up as a Sachem, his original name was laid aside, and 
that of the Sachem-ship itself assumed. The war-chief 
followed the same rule. In like manner, at the raising up 
of a chief, the council of the nation which performed the 
ceremony, took away the former name of the incipient 
chief, and assigned him a new one, perhaps, like Napoleon's 
titles, commemorative of the event which led to its bestow- 
ment. Thus, when the celebrated Red-Jacket was elevated 
by election to the dignity of chief, his original name Ote- 
ti-an-i, (Always Ready) was taken from him, and in its 
place was bestowed, Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, (Keeper Awake) in 
allusion to his powers of eloquence."* 

The following are the names of the several degrees of 
relationship recognized among the Hodenosaunee in the 
language of the Seneca : — 

Hoc-sote, Grandfather ; Uc-sote, Grandmother ; Ha-nih, 
Father; Noh-yeh, Mother; Ho-ah-wuk, Son; Go-ah-wukr 
Daughter ; Ka-va-da, Grand-children ; Hoc-no-seh, Uncle ; 
Ah-geh-huc, Aunt ; Ha-yan-wan-deh, Nephew ; Ka-yan- 
wan-deh. Niece ; Da-ya-gwa-dan-no-da, Brothers and Sisters ; 
Ah-gare-seh, Cousin. 

There was no written language save that of hieroglyph- 
ics, which being well understood among the Iroquois, 
served a very useful purpose. For example : if a company 
goes out to war, and they desire to inform others of the Iro- 
quois who might cross their path, of this proceeding, they 
mark on a tree from which the bark has been removed, the 
signature of their tribe, the animal with a hatchet, sabre or 
club in the right paw, signifying " on the war-path." If 
several tribes are engaged in the expedition, the signature of 
all are inscribed, that of the leader being placed foremost. 
The symbol of the nation is given also ; thus the symbol of 

*The above quotation U from Tamer's Hist. Holland Parchase, page 58. 



INDIANS, 41 

the Oneidas, is " The Stone," which they give by placing a 
stone in the fork of a tree. 

Returning from war they paint the animal of their tribe 
bearing across his shoulders a staff, upon which is strung 
the scalps taken in battle. If there are prisoners, they are 
represented marching in the rear, with a gourd in the right 
hand. Women are designated by the queue and waist- 
cloth. Those they lose in battle are shown by pictures of 
men without heads and with legs in air, and to denote the 
tribe to which they belong, the animal of that tribe lies on 
his back with his paws in the air. A headless animal de- 
notes the loss of the chief, or head of the tribe. A broken 
arrow or gun, which however is connected with the stock, 
signifies wounded, and the animal of the tribe to which the 
wounded belongs, has an arrow piercing him in the part in 
which the wound is located. Rude pictures of " litters " 
show they have sick and describe how many. Sometimes 
over the illustrious dead they erect a post four or five feet 
high, and embellish it with pictures of deeds of valor per- 
formed in life — how often he has been in battle, how many 
prisoners he has taken, &c., — over all of which is painted in 
red, the calumet, — the " pipe of peace." 

The Indians became so thoroughly versed in this method 
of symbolical language, that every paragraph, and every 
mark, presented a perfectly lucid explanation. So great 
was their power of perception, so keen their practiced eyes, 
that the position of a stick or stone, a broken twig, a fallen 
leaf, a foot print, gave an accurate statement of affairs. 

THEIR CUSTOMS IN WAR. 

The science of war-fare was the highest accomplishment 
known in the Indian education. From birth, the stern, 
rigid, and severer qualities of manhood were taught as 
manly virtues, while the gentler qualities, meekness, sym- 
pathy and forgiveness, were ignored as weaknesses 
unworthy a warrior, fit only for women to practice, and 



42 MADISON COUNTY. 

which were proofs of her inferiority, hence indifference to 
suffering was a manly attribute, and to glory in cruelty to 
an enemy, an honorable action. Revenge for wrongs done 
to them was religiously cherished. 

There were, however, frequent instances, where indi- 
viduals were governed by the grand principle of mag- 
nanimity which forbade the warrior to strike a fallen foe. 
In such a case captives taken in battle were adopted into 
the tribe, became one of them in every respect, shared 
equally in all pastimes, all privileges, and in all honors ; if 
any difference was made, it was in favor of the stranger. 
If he mourned separation from friends, they were supplied 
him. Father, mother, brother and sister, and wife, were all 
in due season presented to him. So uniform was their 
kindness that in many instances the captive has preferred 
his captivity. Even white persons have become so attached 
to the novelties of their situation, and perhaps to the free- 
dom found in this natural life, where there are no restraints, 
that they have chosen to remain with their captors, rather 
than return to civilization. 

The preparations for the war-path were commonly opened 
by a feast and dance, in which the whole tribe took part. 
Directly from the dance, they took the trail, their chief 
taking the lead, marching in single file, the only manner of 
march practicable in their narrow trails through the woods. 

Says an ancient writer : " When they fight they are very 
Molechs, and have merely the waist-cloth on, and a pair of 
moccasins on the feet." They display remarkable adroit- 
ness and strategy in approaching an enemy's village, or 
encampment, and impress one with the conviction of their 
excellent planning ability in conducting a campaign, but 
their valor is nowhere so signally displayed, as in the heat 
of battle. Everything falls before them and they appear to 
be entirely carried away by the force of their passions. 
Women and children alike fall under their barbarous fury. 



INDIANS. 43 

This is spoken of the common warrior ; there have been 
instance recorded of warriors' Chiefs who would not strike 
a fallen foe, or harm defenceless women and children ; and 
yet, as in many instances in civilized warfare, it has 
been impossible for them to restrain their infuriated braves 
in battle. The scalping of a slain foe, in their estimation, 
was no wrong, as it was no injury to the body already in- 
sensible in the embrace of death, and it added to the 
trophies of conquest. But, after the heat of the fight had 
passed, they evinced a superstitious repugnance and fear, 
at beholding the dripping blood ; therefore two or three 
men were chosen to carry the scalps and march at a dis- 
tance in the rear of the party, till they had ceased to bleed. 

When they had prisoners, the chiefs consulted together 
whether these captives should be put to death or adopted. 
If any one objected and desired to adopt the prisoner, the 
request was granted even if made by a woman. If the cap- 
tive was to be destroyed, those who were to perform the 
terrible work, became dead to all teelings of humanity. 
They sought in every manner to stimulate their savage pro- 
pensities. Every wrong done their race, by the race or na- 
tion to which the prisoner belonged were recounted and en- 
larged upon ; extravagant exaggerations were indulged till 
their breasts were aflame with fury, when their vengeance 
was wreaked upon the helpless prisoner. The tortures and 
horrible death to which Indians have subjected their victims, 
have been portrayed many times, and it has inspired the 
mind of the white race with horror and hatred so entire, 
that the redeeming qualities of the Indian character can 
scarcely be discerned. 

There was, however, a redeeming principle in their breasts, 
else this plan of adoption had never been ordered. By their 
custom from time immemorial, the captive was adopted to 
supply the place of their own slain in battle, and many a 
victim has been snatched from the flames to be adopted by 



44 MADISON COUNTY. 

some Indian mother to occupy the place of a lost son. The 
revulsion in sentiment astonishes him ; the influence of 
kindness wins him ; the "freedom of the woods" charms 
him ; he is no longer an alien, but socially and politically 
one of their kindred and beloved by them. The utmost 
exertions are made to cause him to forget their former 
cruelty to him, and he does forget, and remains with them. 

The religious belief and ceremonies of the Iroquois, their 
dress and other customs were similar to those of all the 
other Indians of this State as described by the early voy- 
agers hither, and given in the beginning of this chapter. 
However, the progress attendant upon their form of gov- 
ernment had brought about a higher cultivation, and a bet- 
ter state of living. They surpassed all other Indian nations 
in size and elegance of form, dignified bearing and 
particularly in their powers of eloquence. Their language 
though gutteral, was sonorous, and their orators studied 
euphony in their words and in their arrangement. 
" Their graceful attitudes," says a distinguished writer, 
" and gestures, and their flowing sentences rendered their 
discourses, if not always eloquent, at least highly impressive. 
An erect, commanding figure, with a blanket thrown loosely 
over the shoulder, with his naked arm raised, and address- 
ing in impassioned strains a group of similar persons sitting 
upon the ground around him, would give no faint picture of 
Rome in her early days." 

They were very methodical in their harangues. When 
in conference with other nations, at the conclusion of every 
important sentence of the opposite speaker, a Sachem gave 
a small stick, or a belt of wampum, to the orator who was 
to reply, charging him at the same time to remember it. 
After a short consultation with the others, he was able to- 
repeat most of the discourse, which he answered article by 
article. 



ff" INDIANS. 45 

FIRST INVASION OF THE IROQUOIS COUNTRY BY EUROPEANS, 

James Cartier, with an expedition from France in 1535, 
opened the way for the French to the homes of the Iroquois. 
He sailed up the St. Lawrence to an Indian village on the 
present site of Montreal, which village consisted of about 
fifty well built houses of wood which were covered by bark 
of trees as " wide as any board and very finely and cun- 
ningly joined together." The village was surrounded by 
large and thrifty fields of corn. It was the home of a tribe 
ol Hurons. 

Returning to France, Cartier, in 1540, with Roberval, 
made another voyage to this country, and Cartier built a 
fort at Quebec, which, however, he left for a return to his 
native country in 1542. 

From this period, owing to agitations in the mother 
country, more than fifty years elapsed ere the wilds of north- 
ern America witnessed the approach of another French ves- 
sel, and the Iroquois only knew by tradition the character- 
istics of the white race. In the meantime, however, several 
expeditions had been sent out by English and other foreign 
authorities, which had landed on the coasts of our Southern 
States. These had proved but abortive attempts at coloni- 
zation. 

In 1603, Samuel Champlain came out from France with 
an expedition, reached America, entered the St. Lawrence, 
and following in the path of Cartier, sailed up to Quebec 
and there selected the site of his fort. He established here 
a trading post for the purpose of dealing in the fur trade. 
In order to win the favor of the Hurons, he became their 
ally against the Iroquois. The power of the Iroquois was a 
source of dread to the Canada Indians, the Hurons and Al- 
gonquins, and they encouraged the French with hopes that 
their assistance might break that power. 

In 1609, Champlain suffered himself to be led by their 
oft-repeated persuasions to go out to the Iroquois country 



46 MADISON COUNTY. 

to subjugate them. In July the expedition of French and 
Indians entered the Iroquois country, and the»first pitched 
battle between white men and Indians on this continent, 
was fought the 30th day of July, 1609, between Champlain 
and his allies, and the Iroquois, in the vicinity of Ticon- 
deroga, a place afterwards made famous by battles of the 
French and Revolutionary wars. In this battle the Iro- 
qucis were taught a terrible lesson of the use of fire-arms in 
warfare. They knew of no better weapons than the hatchet, 
war club and arrow. They came to this battle led by three 
Chiefs who wore lofty plumes. They were all clad in an 
arrow proof armor (a remarkable circumstance — worn prob- 
ably to protect themselves from balls, the nature of which 
they knew but little,) woven of cotton-thread and wood. 
Champlain and his men were armed with arquebuses, his 
Indians with arrows. At the first round from the arque- 
buses, two of the three Chiefs were killed, and the third so 
wounded that he died soon after. When the Iroquois saw 
their Chiefs were slain, they took flight, abandoning the 
field and the fort they had hastily built during the previous 
night, bearing their wounded into the depths of the forest. 
Champlain, with fifteen or sixteen arrow-wounded soldiers, 
returned to Canada, carrying a dozen prisoners which his 
men captured of the flying Iroquois in the woods. 

At this same period, 1609, Hudson made the acquaint- 
ance of the Indians about the North River, and of him 
they obtained and learned to use fire-arms. 

Champlain went to France, and returned to America 
again in 16 15, when he again invaded the territory of the 
Iroquois in western New York. Finding them entrenched, 
he attacked their fort which was situated somewhere in the 
neighborhood of Canandaigua. The fortress was most 
admirably constructed, and successfully resisted all efforts 
made toward its destruction. The Indians fought with 
arrows. After several days of futile attempts, the work 



INDIANS, 47 

was abandoned, and Champlain returned to Canada, bearing 
on the way his wounded on litters, till they reached their 
canoes on the Lake. He had now incurred the hatred of 
the Iroquois ; and the Dutch, who had settled at New York 
and Albany, had, by demonstrations of good will, secured 
their friendship. 

The Five Nations, repaired to Albany with presents as 
covenants of good faith ; the trade of furs became estab- 
lished so largely that the Dutch East India Company grew 
rich upon the traffic. The New Netherlands Colony in- 
creased and flourished, and to Corlear (the honored Gov- 
ernor of Renssellaerwyck,) the Indians cheerfully acknowl- 
edged obedience. This state of affairs, so propitious to the 
interests of the Dutch, might have longer continued, had 
not cupidity entered the breast of traders, and resentment 
the heart of the Indian, which culminated in the war of 
1642, in which the Iroquois took up the hatchet in defence 
of weaker nations, and then, by their wise diplomacy and 
powerful influence, secured the only permanent negotia- 
tions of peace, which were effected in 1645. 

In the mean time Champlain had died and Montneagy 
had succeeded him. The Jesuits had established them- 
selves in New France, as Canada was called ; had planted 
the standard of their faith among the northern Indians, and 
now they ventured among the haughty Iroquois. Their 
peaceful demeanour, the impressiveness of their religious 
ceremonials, won upon the hearts of the untaught children 
of the forest, and many of them rejoiced to find a settled 
hope in the place of a superstitious fear ; and thus the 
Jesuits gained a place and secured a foothold for France 
among the Five Nations. 

Father Simon Le Moine who was established at Onon- 
daga in 1654, gives one of the earliest and most minute 
accounts of these missions. He describes his reception 
among the Indians as an event of rejoicing. The people 



48 MADISON COUNTY. 

flocked around him and listened with eager attention to his 
words. On the iQth of August, with delegates from three 
of the neighboring nations, Father Le Moine, and his party 
of Frenchmen, held a general council of peace with the 
Iroquois Nations. At this council, Le Moine was the bearer 
of "words" from '' Onnonthio" (Mons. De Lauzon, then 
Governor of New France,) each of which were confirmed by 
presents. He relates that " at each present they heaved a 
powerful ejaculation from the bottom of the chest in testi- 
mony of their joy. I was full two hours making my whole 
speech, talking like a Chief, and walking about like an actor 
on the stage, as is their custom." After this, the Indians 
consulted together for the space of two hours,' and then 
" called me among them, and seated me in an honorable place. 
The Chief, who is tongue of the country, repeats faith- 
fully, as orator, the substance of all my words. Then all 
set to singing in token of their gratification. I was told to 
pray God on my side, which I did very willingly. After 
these songs, he spoke to me in the name of his nation." 
This orator was followed by others from the different 
nations, and the speeches recorded are full of feeling and 
power, all testifying to the good will in their hearts for the 
French. 

Events, which occurred subsequently during Le Moine's 
mission of four years, proved to the Iroquois that the 
designs of the French were not wholly to Christianize ; but 
were mainly to secure dominion over them. The success 
of the Jesuits induced considerable numbers of the French 
to emigrate thither, and soon troubles began to develop. 
For the murder of an Onondaga by a French Indian, the 
Iroquois renewed their war upon the Hurons, who were 
subjects of the French Government. Also three French- 
men were killed at Montreal by a party of Oneidas, who 
scalped their victims, and " carried these as if in triumph to 
their villages, in token of declared war." For this act of 
hostility a dozen Iroquois were arrested by the French 



INDIANS. 



4^ 



coramander, and put in irons, at Montreal, Three Rivers, 
and Quebec, where they happened to be at the time. This 
so irritated the Iroquois, that they determined to avenge 
themselves by war against the French. In February, 1658, 
the Jesuits ascertained that 200 Mohawks, 40 Oneidas, and 
some of the Onondaga warriors had taken the field, while 
the main body were assembling. This determined the 
Jesuits and the Frenchmen, their assistants, to depart. 
They conducted their preparations for removal with such 
secrecy and celerity, that the Onondagas were wholly de- 
ceived, and knew nothing of their flight until the journey 
of part of a night and a day had widened the distance be- 
tween them. Fear of massacre alone compelled them to un- 
dertake this perilous journey, amid the inclemencies of wintry 
weather, it being the 20th of March, 1658, when they em- 
barked on Onondaga River, with two batteaux and eight 
canoes, which composed their fleet, with fifty-three French- 
men. They arrived at Quebec on the 23d of April, in 
safety, after having encountered untold suffering and perils. 

" The French government then determined to chastise the 
Iroquois for their obstinacy ; or, as appears from a report to 
that government, upon the principle that "no advantage 
can he expected from these nations, except so far as we ap- 
pear able to injure them." To insure the success of an ex- 
pedition against them, it was necessary to become ac- 
quainted with the routes leading to and through their 
country. The benefits of the scheme, its practicabihty, to- 
gether with the information gained of the situation of the 
country, was transmitted in a message to the Home Gov- 
ernment, (France,) from wh'ch the subjoined extracts are 
made. 

The route proceeded from Quebec across the country, to 
the first nation, the Mohawks, which consisted of " two or 
three villages, containing, three O'" fou- hundred men cajoa- 
ble of bearing arms. * * * Proceeding westward at 

D 



50 



MADISON COUNTY. 



a distance of forty-five leagues is found the second nation, 
called Oneyda, which has no more at most than one hundred 
and forty warriors. * * * * Fifteen leagues toward 
sunset is Onnontague which has full three hundred men. 

* * * * y^t twenty or thirty leagues from there, still 
toward the west is the village of Cayuga with three hun- 
dred warriors, where in the year 1657, we had a mission. 

* * * •jfr Toward the termination of the Great Lake 
called Ontario, is located the most numerous of the Five 
Iroquois Nations, named the Senekas, with full twelve hun- 
dred men, in two or three villages of which it is composed. 

* * * * All this extent of country is partly south and 
partly west of the French settlements, at a distance of from 
one hundred to one hundred and fifty leagues. It is for the 
most part fertile, covered with fine timber ; among the rest, 
entire forests of chestnut and hickory, intersected by nu- 
merous lakes and rivers abounding in fish. The air is tem- 
perate, the seasons regular as in France, capable of bearing 
all the fruits of Touraine and Provence. The snows are 
not deep nor of long duration. The three winters which 
we passed there among the Onnontagues, were mild com- 
pared with the winters at Quebec, where the ground is 
covered five months with snow, three, four and five feet 
deep. As we inhabit the northern part of New France 
and the Iroquois the South, it is not surprising that their 
lands are more agreeable, and more capable of cultivation, 
and of bearing better fruit. * * * ^ The forest is 
full of deer, bears, and wild cows (.''); sometimes entire herds 
of fallow deer, which supply abundance of provisions neces- 
sary to travellers everywhere." 

Thus it will be seen that the French laid claim to all 
Northern and Central New York, and intended to make 
good that claim by conquest. 

The Mohawks occupied the country along the Mohawk 
River, the Oneidas south, east and north of Oneida Lake, the 



INDIANS. 5 1 

Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas spreading over the whole 
fertile region of Western New York. The French com- 
menced encroachments by building forts in this country, 
for the two-fold purpose of securing traders' stores, and to in- 
timidate the natives. 

In the winter of 1666, Mons. DeCourcelles,with five hund- 
red men, made a descent upon the Mohawk country. The ex- 
pedition was attended with hardships and sufifering, and 
when they reached the Dutch settlements, they found that 
the Mohawk and Oneida warriors had gone on a long jour- 
ney to make war against the tribe called Wampum Makers, 
and had left in their villages only the children and helpless 
old men. The report says : " It was then considered use- 
less to push further forward an expediton which had all the 
effect intended, by the terror it spread among the tribes, 
who were haughty and perfidious, only because they con- 
sidered themselves inaccessible to our troops. Before re- 
turning, however, we killed several savages, who from time 
to time made their appearance along the skirts of the forest 
for the purpose of skirmishing with our people." 

The French now flattered themselves that the natives 
were sufficiently overawed, and they might count on their 
subjugation on any terms ; but in a general council at 
Quebec in the ensuing summer, all the Five Nations were 
well represented, and finding them to be really formidable, 
they arranged an honorable treaty of peace, in which the 
Iroquois gave many tokens of the genuineness of their 
pledges. This treaty was grossly violated by the French 
immediately after ; they went to work secretly, and by 
autumn had collected a force of twelve hundred soldiers 
a hundred Hurons and Algonquins, and with Gover- 
nor Tracy at the head, marched through the Iroquois 
towns, and finding the inhabitants fled, laid waste their 
stores of grain and devastated their villages. Desolation 
followed their path everywhere. " Famine " it was averred 
by the French, "will destroy as many as would have been 



52 MADISON COUNTY, 

destroyed by the arms of our soldiers, had they dared to 
await them, and those who survive will be reduced by terror 
to peaceful conditions, and to a demeanour more difficult 
to be obtained from them by mere sanguinary victories." 
The Iroquois forts were formally taken possession of, and 
the Cross planted before the doors, and to a post affixed the 
Arms of the King of France. Deeming themselves 
quite secure in their authority, the French sent in their 
spies, traders and priesis, who with their presents and 
peaceful conduct, soon secured a class of adherents among 
the natives. The mission at Oneida named St. Francis 
Xavier, was established by Father Jacques Bruyas, in 1667,, 
where he remained till 1671. 

From this period the cause of the French gained, and 
their trade flourished among the Indians of Central Nev/ 
York ; nevertheless, the nations were in allegiance to the 
English and annually went to Albany to renew the chain of 
friendship. 

Though Governor Nichols of New York, remonstrated 
with Governor Tracy for his intrusion, and made laws for- 
bidding the French to enter their territory under severe 
penalties, and also obtained a promise from the Iroquois 
that they would not allow them to remain among them, yet 
these were no more than nominal laws, threats, and prom- 
ises. The Iroquois had cared but little about the changes 
which had transpired in the subversion of the Dutch 
government to English rule ; had paid little heed to the 
embroils of the English and French, and had only seemed 
desirous of living in peace with all their white neighbors. 
If the English lost the precedence among the natives, it 
was only from neglecting to take the same care to cultivate 
them that the French did. 

But the English entered their country only to purchase 
furs, and these were generally brought to Albany by the 
natives. The earliest record we have of English travelers 



INDIANS. 53 

having penetrated the Indian country to any considerable 
distance, was given by Wentworth Greenhalgh, who made his 
journey between the dates of May 20th and July 14th, 1677. 
It was thirteen years since the province came under the 
control of the Duke of York, and but three years since his 
rule had become finally established, and the English were 
desirous to ascertain the bounds and resources of the 
province. From the journal kept by Greenhalgh the fol- 
lowing extract is taken : — " The Maques have four towns, 
viz : Cahanaiga, Canagorah, Canajorha, Tionondogue, besides 
one small village about 1 10 miles from Albany. 

" Cahanaiga is double stockaded round ; has four ports, 
about four foot wide apiece, conteyns about 24 houses, and 
is situate upon the edge of an hill, about a bow shot from 
the river side. 

" Canagorah is only single stockaded ; has four ports like 
the former, conteyns about 16 houses; it is situated upon a 
flat, a stone's throw from the water's side. 

" Canajorha is also singly stockaded, and like the manner 
of ports and quantity of houses of Canagora ; the like 
situation, only about two miles distant from the water. 

" Tionondoque is double stockaded round, has four ports 
four foot wide apiece, contains about 30 houses ; it is situ- 
ated on a hill about a bow shot from the river. 

"The small village is without fence and conteyns about 
ten houses ; lyes close by the river side, on the north side 
as do all the former. 

" The Maques pass in all for about 300 fighting men. 
Their corn grows close by the River Side. 

" Of the situation of the Oneidas and Onondagas and 
their strength : 

" The Oneydas have but one town which lyes about 130 
miles westward of the Maques.(?) It is situated about 20 
miles from a smaU river, [from the mouth of Oneida 



54 MADISON COUNTY. 

Creek ?] which comes out of the hills to the southward and 
runs into Lake Teshiroque, [Oneida Lake,] and about 30 
miles distant from the Maques [Mohawk] River, which lyes 
to the northward ; the town is newly settled, double stock- 
aded, but little cleared ground, so that they are forced to 
send to the Onondagoes to buy corn ; the town consists of 
about 100 houses. They are said to have about 200 fight- 
ing men. Their corn grows round about the town. 

" The Onondagoes have but one town, but it is very large ; 
consisting of about 140 houses not fenced ; it is situate upon 
a hill that is very large, the bank on each side extending it- 
self at least two miles, cleared land, whereon the corn is 
planted. They have likewise a small village about two 
miles beyond that, consisting of about 24 houses. They 
lye to the southward of the west, about 36 miles from the 
Oneydas. They plant abundance of corn which they sell to 
the Oneydas. The Onondagoes are said to be about 350 
fighting men. They lye about 15 miles from Teshiroque." 

The traveller further described the villages of the Iro- 
quois, the Cayugas and Senecas, and thus concluded with 
the Senecas : — 

"The Senecas have four towns, viz. : Canagorah, Tishte- 
hatan, Canoenada, Keint-he. Canagorah and Tistehatan 
lie within thirty miles of Lake Frontenac ; the other two 
about four or five miles to the southward of there ; they 
have abundance of corn. None of these towns are stock- 
aded. 

" Canagorah lies on the top of a great hill, and in that as 
well as in bigness, much like Onondagoe, containing 150 
houses. 

" Here the Indians were very desirous to see us ride our 
horses, which we did. They made feasts and dancing. 

" Tishtehatan lies on the edge of a hill ; not much cleared 
ground ; is near the river Tishtehaten, which signifies bend- 



INDIANS. 55 

ing ; it lies northward of Canagorah about 30 miles. Con- 
teyns about 120 houses, being the largest of all the houses 
we saw, the ordinary being 50 or 60 feet and some 1 30 or 
140 feet long with 13 or 14 fires in one house. They have 
good store of corn growing about a mile to northward of 
the town. 

" Canoenada lies about 4 miles to southward of Canago- 
rah ; contains about 30 houses, well furnished with corn. 

" Kint-he lies about 4 or 5 miles to the southward of Tis- 
tehaten ; conteyns about 24 houses well furnished with corn. 

" The Senecas are counted to be in all about 1,000 fight- 
ing men. The whole force, Maques 300, Oneydoes 200, 
Onondagoes 350, Cayugas 300, with Senecas 1,000, making 
a total of 2,150 fighting men." 

The English Government now became interested in af- 
fairs of the Indians, who, in return, introduced them to the 
fur trade of the western lakes, and Gov. Dongan caused the 
Coat-of-Arms of His Royal Highness, Duke of York, to be 
put up in all the Indian Castles. Incensed at this the 
French redoubled their enterprises with great vigor, and 
causes of irritation immediately sprung up between them 
and the Iroquois, and the latter retaliated by killing a Jesuit 
Missionary, and subsequently by making a descent upon a 
fort, and plundering seven French canoes laden with mer- 
chandise, and detaining the traders. 

At this period, 1684, Mons. De La Barre, Governor Gen- 
eral of Canada, had stationed Father Lamberville at Onon- 
daga, and Father Pierre Millet at Oneida. These priests 
were in constant communication with their governor and 
wisely endeavored to keep peace. Nevertheless De La 
Barre fitted out an expedition to subjugate the Iroquois. 
In behalf of the two nations, for whom they were mission- 
aries, these priests journeyed to meet La Barre and if possi- 
ble turn him from the project. The Governor was, however, 



56 MADISON COUNTY. ' 

more easily pursuaded by the alarming sickness of his troops 
when at Hungry Bay, Jefferson Co., which caused his ex-, 
pedition to terminate without fighting. 

The French were dissatisfied because De La Barre did 
not fight. The King of France wanted the Indians for 
galley slaves, and thenceforth the subjugation of the 
Iroquois became a popular theme. 

The English had begun to realize the value of their 
swarthy neighbors, and thus Governor Dongan eulogized 
them in a report to the English Government. " The Five 
Nations are the most warlike and powerful of all the Indian 
nations, and are a bulwark between us and the French and 
all the other Indians ; they go so far as the South sea, [Gulf 
of Mexico,] the North West Passage, [Mackinack,] and 
Florida to war. New England, in their last war with the 
Indians, had been ruined had not Sir Edmund Andros, 
[Governor of N. Y.] sent some of those Nations to their 
assistance ; and indeed they are so considerable that all the 
Indians in these parts of America are tributary to them. 
* * * They have ten or twelve castles. * * * 
Those Five Nations are very brave, and the awe 
and dread of all the Indians in these parts of America, and- 
are a better defense to us than if they were so many Chris- 
tians. * * * * xhe designs of the French is to 
acquire the beaver trade, whatever colour they may give to 
their actions." 

Mons. De Nonville succeeded De La Barre as governor 
of Canada, and as a precaution in planning another expe- 
dition against the Indians, he pays them the following 
tribute in a report to his King : — " The force of the Iroquois 
consists of 2000 picked warriors, brave, active, more skillful 
in the use of the gun than Europeans, and all well armed.' 
The French really dreaded and feared to meet them on 
their own ground, knowing by bitter experience, that their 
peculiar mode of warfare, resorting to ambush, hiding behind 



INDIANS. 57 

trees, lying upon the ground, and other ruses, were Hkely to 
prove successful in the future, as in the past. Nevertheless, 
the summer of 1687 witnessed De Nonville's famous expedi- 
tion into the Seneca country, where he maintained a brief 
period of carnage and devastation, in which his command 
suffered, as well as the Iroquois. His success did not invite 
to further conquests, and it is inferred that the French gained 
little honor and less advancement in this rencontre. The 
next summer they succeeded in getting a large delegation 
from the Iroquois to Montreal for negotiations. 

In 1689, the province of New York had arrived at a 
period renowned in history. The English under William and 
Mary, and the French under Louis XIV, were, as nations, 
fairly launched on a sea of embroils and difficulties, and 
their American provinces partook of the national animosi- 
ties. The command of New York had been in the hands 
of Governor Andros, who, like his ex-King, James II, 
was a violent Catholic, and who, on the accession of the 
Protestant King and Queen to the throne, was imprisoned 
and sent to England. Jacob Leisler, a man of Dutch 
extraction and a merchant of New York City, having many 
adherents, assumed the reins of government and proclaimed 
William and Mary. He was a violent opposer of Catholics, 
and consequently of the Jesuit priests stationed among the 
Five Nations. Lamberville and Millet who were still at 
Onondaga and Oneida, had maintained a friendly correspond- 
ence with Governor Dongan, who was also a Catholic, but 
Leisler having no bonds of faith to attach him to them, 
declared that he could peiceive that " they were laboring to 
throw dust in the eyes of the Enghsh, and at the same time 
forward the plans of the French." He determined to coun- 
teract their influence. The Indians were already aflame with 
resentment toward the French for many recent injuries, 
among which was the sending of thirty-nine Iroquois prison- 
ers to France for galley slaves. Thirteen of these had been 
returned to Canada, the rest having died of sickness, but 



58 MADISON COUNTY. "? 

these thirteen were still detained in Canada. During the 
summer of 1689, scouting parties on either side were scour- 
ing the woods between Canada and Central New York, and 
in September the Iroquois caught " five praying Indians, 
who were bound hither to do mischief," and they had sent 
to Albany for two or three pair of horses and five or six 
men to ride the heaviest stockade of Tionondaga. Leisler, 
acting under the advice of Peter Schuyler, Mayor of Albany, 
established a better arrangement to attach the Indians to 
the English cause. [Peter Schuyler possessed remarkable 
influence with the Indians, and was a man of sound judg- 
ment and great moderation.] 

The new arrangement established a sworn interpreter for 
the better communication between the Indians and English- 
Arnout Cornelise occupied that position. Regular runners 
(or posts) were kept, to transmit messages from the central 
seat of the Five Nations to Albany. Jeannetie (or Lau- 
rence Jeannetie, as he is sometimes called,) an Indian, was 
one of the most reliable of those runners. Tasoquathe, 
Caristasie, and Jurian, Mohawks, were frequently on the 
path with messages. Lieut. Robert Sanders, a member of 
the Albany Convention, (the highest official body in the 
province,) was commander of Indian forces ; his sagacity 
and knowledge of Indian character, called him to this office. 
In times of unusual danger, or cases in which both English 
and the Five Nations were interested, Peter Schuyler con- 
ducted councils with the Indians at Albany. 

Late in the year 1689, a party of Iroquois saw three of 
those thirteen prisoners who had been returned from France 
to Canada, and they made an appeal for them to beset free; 
also two letters from Canada to the priest at Oneida had 
fallen into the hands of some of the Indians. These, with 
the news concerning the prisoners, were sent to Albany by 
five embassadors, chiefs of the Five Nations. They called 
on Arnout Cornelise on their way and obtained his inter- 



INDIANS. 59 

pretation of their message, in a letter, which they took to 
Peter Schuyler. On the 27th of December, two days after 
their arrival, a Council consisting of Mayor, Aldermen, 
Commonality and Military officers of the City and County 
of Albany, was called to n;ieet with these Chiefs. The let- 
ters, one from Lamberville who had gone to Canada, were 
not proven obnoxious, but the opportunity was seized upon 
to draw up a series of articles, admonishing the Five Na- 
tions to observe greater caution in their intercourse with 
the common enemy, and giving timely advice upon im- 
portant affairs. The articles and the decision upon the 
letters, were sent by express to the Nations by the three 
trusty Mohawk messengers. Arnout Cornelise accom- 
panied by Robert Sanders was sent to Onondaga with all 
possible speed, that especial care should be taken that the 
articles be plainly stated, and also to state in the Indian's 
General Council at Onondaga " that Albany is the prefixed 
House to treat and speak with all sorts of people, and those 
who strive to make peace or cession with the French, must 
be looked upon as persons who design to make a breach in 
the silver covenant chain which has so many years been 
kept inviolable with the government." 

The interest manifested in this arrangement won the Iro- 
quois to greater fidelity. They thep made offer of furnish- 
ing 1,800 men to conduct a campaign to Canada. Captain 
Blew-stocking and De-gan-och-keeri, raised a command of 
forty Mohawks, but \yith all their vigilance, being unaided by 
the English, they did not avert the calamity which was vis- 
ited upon the peaceful Dutch citizens on the Mohawk— rthe 
burning of Schenectady by the French and their savage 
allies on the 9th of February, 1690. This terrible massacre 
was due the planning abihty of Count De Frontenac, then 
Governor of New France (Canada). The ire of the Five 
Nations was terribly increased by this new outrage, for they 
regarded the Dutch as their brothers. The ability of the 



60 MADISON COUNTY. 

Jesuits to further on such designs as the French Governor 
saw fit to set on foot, was evident, and many efforts were 
made to induce the Iroquois to give them up to the au- 
thorities, but this was not done, for there was always 
among them a party of more or less influence in the 
Jesuit's interest. Five French men who came to Onon- 
daga and from there to Oneida, with presents to the na- 
tives and bearing letters to the priests, were caught and 
made prisoners, and by permission of the authorities at Al- 
bany, who were immediately consulted, these prisoners 
were divided among the nations, taken to Onondaga, and 
there barbarously destroyed. A short time after, another 
party of four French, four of their " praying Indians," (con- 
verts to the Catholic faith,) came bringing two of the cap- 
tive Iroquois to Onondaga, and from there sent out em- 
bassadors to all the other Nations. Two of these French- 
men were believed to be Father Lamberville, (the former 
priest at Onondaga) and the French Captain who attacked 
Schenectady. None of the nations would confer with them 
till they had called some " understanding men from Al- 
bany" that they might not be deceived. Peter Schuyler, 
Robert Saunders, Mons. Gawsheron, Jean Rose and two 
more went up to Onondaga. It is believed these French- 
men were killed ; and it is inferred from documents of that 
period that Father Millet was detained as a prisoner at 
Oneida. 

The English now fully aroused to the dangers of French 
invasion, endeavored to raise forces to commence retalia- 
tory measures, but so weakened was the province by the 
unhappy state of her civil affairs that all efforts seemed 
barren of results. 

Major Fitz John Winthrop made an attempt at invasion of 
Canada, with New York and New England forces, which was 
a failure. An effort was also made by Capt. John Schuyler, 
who with a small band of whites and Indians penetrated to 



INDIANS, 6l 

Fort La Prairie, near Chambly, where they had an engage- 
ment, put to flight the enemy and captured some prisoners. 

Soon after this, letters of commission were given to 
Arnout CorneHse Veile, (the same Arnout Cornehse before 
mentioned,) dated 20th September, 1690, authorizing him to 
act as Indian Agent for their Majesty's Province of New 
York, requiring him to reside at Onondaga, or at other 
places among the Indians according to instructions. Mr. 
Gerrit Luycass, who had been at Onondaga a few weeks, 
was appointed assistant to Arnout Cornelise Viele, to con- 
tribute in carrying out all lawful instructions from Albany. 

The change in the civil affairs of New York, the deposi- 
tion and execution of Jacob Leisler, and the short rule of 
Governor Sloughter, did not materially affect the state of 
Indian affairs. Major Peter Schuyler, the person best 
fitted for the place, had command of the forces against the 
French, which consisted of three hundred Mohawks and 
River Indians, joined by one hundred and thirty "Christ- 
ians " [white men i*] who, on their way were to be added to 
by five hundred Senecas. By this force were the French 
annoyed and held in check. 

To the year 1696 this state of petty warfare was con- 
tinued, and the warlike blood of all parties concerned was 
wrought up to fever heat. Count Frontenac the most able 
and enterprising governor the French had had over their 
possessions in America, was still in command of New 
France. With a determined spirit, though at the advanced 
age of seventy-four years, he planned a decisive blow to the 
English interests among the Ircquois. In August, 1696, 
heading his command in person, he made a descent upon 
the central power of these Confederates. He found the 
village of Onondaga destroyed by the natives to prevent 
its falling into his hands, but his soldiery destroyed the 
luxuriant fields of corn around it. Oneida, which now had 
no Jesuit priest to serve as a hostage. Father Millet having 



62 MADISON COUNTY, 

been re-called to Canada, was invaded, destroyed, and 
thirty-five of their principal men among whom were their 
head Chiefs, were made prisoners and carried to Canada. 
The devastation and ruin which marked this invasion, 
caused many of the Five Nations to flee in consternation to 
• Albany for protection and relief. Winter was approaching 
and no corn was left to meet their necessities ; neither 
dwellings to house them, though the latter they could 
provide. Governor Fletcher was then in command of New 
York. He called a council in which the English evinced 
their sympathy by enacting measures calculated to establish 
their friendship, producing the opposite tendency desired by 
Frontenac ; for they immediately built up their villages. 
The corn, implements, and utensils destroyed, were more 
than supplied by the government, added to by an outfit of 
clothing, so that although discouraged for, a season, recu- 
peration was rapid. 

In 1698, a treaty of peace was made between New 
France and the Iroquois, which was made more permanent 
by the treaty of 1700 between, the French and English, in 
which each nation were bound to certain restrictions ; an 
important one being that the subjects of the two crowns 
should not intrench upon each other's lands, till their Hmits 
and boundaries were decided by the proper commissioners 
appointed for that purpose. The Indians had now learned 
that victory to either French or English could confer no 
benefits on themselves, and so they carefully avoided enter- 
ing into their difficulties. 

They also resolved upon some measures to protect their 
own interests, and in 1701, they "delineated upon paper in 
the most precise manner, the limits of what they called their 
hunting grounds, comprehending the great Lakes of 
Ontario and Erie, and all the circumjacent land for the dis- 
tance of sixty miles around them. The sole and absolute 
property of this country they desired might be secured to 



INDIANS. 63 

them ; and as a proof of perpetual alliance and to support 
our rights* against any claims which the French might 
make, founded on the vague and uncertain pretence of 
unlimited grants, or accidental local discovery, they declared 
themselves willing to yield to Great Britain the sovereignty 
and absolute dominion of it, to be secured and protected by 
forts, to be erected whenever it should be thought proper." 

A treaty was accordingly then entered into and con- 
cluded by Mr. Nanfan, then Lieutenant Governor of New 
York, and a deed of surrender of the lands was executed by 
the Iroquois, on the conditions as above stated. 

The boundary between the English and French had not 
yet been definitely settled upon, and the foregoing treaty 
was not strictly observed by the English. Disgusted and 
dissatisfied, many Indians joined the French in the war 
which followed. The French got possession of the country 
to the westward by erecting forts and military establish- 
ments. The treaty of Utrecht in 1713, compelled them, 
however, to acknowledge British sovereignty over the Iro- 
quois. 

There are no records of the wars of the Iroquois with other 
nations of their own race, only so far as the civilized nations 
were interested, or participated therein. It was known, how- 
ever, that the Confederacy warred with the southern, western, 
and northwestern tribes, in times when they were at peace 
with their white neighbors ; and it -was counted no unusual 
circumstance for them to start on the war path for the 
Ohio or Kentucky rivers, or to the country of Virginia, the 
Carolinas, or Georgia. In these journeyings they had come 
across the Tuscaroras, who dwelt upon the Neuse River in 
North Carolina, a large and powerful nation who had " fifteen 
towns, and could count twelve hundred warriors." These 
became attached to the Iroquois and took sides with them 
against the Cherokees, Creeks and Catawbas, with whom 

*Rights of the English. See Doc. History N. Y. S., Vol. II, page 778. 



64 MADISON COUNTY. 

they warred. It is believed that this union of the Tiisca- 
roras with the Iroquois came about by a similarity in the 
language of each, which induced them to believe the Tus- 
caroras to be a portion of their own nation. 

In 171 1 the Tuscaroras had become dissatisfied with en- 
croachments upon their lands, by the colonists of North 
Carolina, who even went so far as to parcel the land to 
emigrants as their own heritage. Exasperated, the Tus- 
caroras retaliated by seizing one Lawson, Surveyor-General 
of the State of Carolina, and after a brief trial put him to 
death. Becoming alarmed they hoped to escape punish- 
ment by putting to death all the white settlers sputh of 
Albemiarle Sound. Dividing into small parties they com- 
menced their horrid purpose, and on the 22nd day of Sep- 
tember, 171 1, one hundred and thirty persons fell victims to 
the sacrifice. 

Col. Barnwell of South Carolina, with a small party of 
whites, and a considerable body of Catawbas, Creeks and 
Cherokees who had long standing revenges to satisfy, set 
out against them. After killing fifty Tuscaroras, and taking 
250 prisoners, they came upon one of their forts on the 
Neuse River, where were enclosed 600 of the enemy. 
Barnwell concluded a treaty of peace with them, to which the 
Tuscaroras paid no attention, and renewed hostilities in a few 
days alter. South Carolina, appealed to for assistance the 
second time, now sent out Col. Moore with 40 whites and 
800 Indians, in the month of December. After a fatiguing 
march they came upon the Tuscaroras who had fortified 
themselves on the Taw River, about fifty miles from its 
mouth. A short engagement and Col. Moore entered their 
works, and 800 Tuscaroras became his prisoners. These 
were claimed by his Indians as a reward for their services, 
and were taken to South Carolina where they were sold for 
slaves. The remnant of the Tuscaroras, broken in spirit, 
were driven from their homes ; to the northward they trav- 



INDIANS. 65 

eled till they reached the Iroquois. No written record tells 
us of the Grand Council held on their reception ; of their 
formal adoption into the Great Confederacy, giving them 
the title thereafter of the Sixth Nation ; of the considerate 
and paternal manner in which the Iroquois relieved their 
immediate necessities, and home and country assigned them. 
This powerful race of 1200 warriors were reduced to less 
than two hundred, and in sympathy for their weakened and 
effeminated condition, their home was made among the re- 
tired precincts of the Oneidas, at their ancient abiding place 
among the hills of Stockbridge, and at their quiet retreat at 
Canaseraga, south of Oneida Lake. All the privileges of 
the Confederacy were accorded them ; they were called the 
*' Younger Brothers." They sat in the councils equal in 
honor with the greatest, and their voice was listened to with 
equal respect. 

In following the course of events, it is found that the ad- 
vent of the Tuscaroras was one of the remarkable epochs 
in their history, and the most considerable event of the 
first quarter of the eighteenth century. Slowly advancing 
upon them, however, were changes which were destined to 
deeply affect their nationahty. 

That which distiitbed the Nations most, during this 
period, was the approach of white settlements here and 
there in close proximity to their borders. Although in the 
treaty of 171 3, France agreed to "never molest the Five 
Nations subject to the dominion of Great Britain," yet the 
question of boundary was still unsettled, and the Iroquois 
saw them re-build the fort at Niagara, and increase their 
strength at the trading post at Detroit, and saw projects on 
foot for a continuous line of forts from Quebec to the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

Governor Burnet of New York, coming upon the stage 
of action during this time, exhibited greater zeal for His 
Majesty's Indian interests, than his immediate predecessors 

£ 



66 MADISON COUNTY. 

had done. By his assiduity he won the Indians who had 
strayed into the French interests, back to renew the ancient 
covenant chain. The agreement of 1701 was confirrned by 
a treaty in 1726, concluded upon the same terms, and a new 
deed reciting the former was executed. To counteract the 
French ascendancy which overawed the northern and 
western Indian > frontier, Burnet energetically proceeded to 
the building of forts. He erected the fort at Oswego 
almost wholly at his private expense. His report exhibits 
his energy in the matter, and at the same time gives the 
reader a good idea of the mode of transportation of that 
day. His posse of workmen were sent up to Oswego by 
way of Mohawk River, Oneida Lake and Oswego River, 
and were accompanied by a detachment of sixty soldiers to 
protect them. His report states that he had been obliged 
to lay out three hundred pounds provided by Assembly, 
and more than double that amount on his own credit, " to 
furnish necessaries and provisions and hire workmen, and 
make batteaux to carry the men, for it is all water carriage 
from our outermost town called Schenectady to this place, 
[Oswego] which is about two hundred miles, except five 
miles where they must draw their batteaux over land, [Wood 
Creek carrying place,] which is easily enough done, and this 
makes our communication much more convenient than by 
land." 

The building of this fort on land to which the French 
now as usual laid claim, was the inciting cause for further 
disturbances which finally culminated in the war of 1742, 
and which was confined chiefly to the northern borders of 
this State. The Iroquois as a people remained true to 
their allegiance to the English, and did not, (except in 
individual instances,) violate their laws of neutrality. On 
the other hand, among the French a Jesuit priest brought 
into their ranks a force of Indians whom he had attached 
to himself. This champion of the rights of the French, 
Father Francois Picquet, was established at the Lake of 



INDIANS. 



67 



the Two Mountains in 1733, and was one of the first to 
foresee this war, and prepared for it a long time before 
hand. He undoubtedly assisted in bringing it about. He 
evidently got great glory to the arms of France and added 
largely to the consequence and pomp of his Mission.* 

After the ruins of carnage had smouldered in a deceitful 
peace of but few years duration, the war commencing 
with the year 1754, broke out with greater and more 
destructive violence, involving a wide section of country in 
its turmoils. The period was approaching when the destiny 
of the contestants was to be decided. The matter of 
supremacy of either of the two powers, English or French, 
on this continent, hung on the issue of the fortunes of this 
war. 

This remarkable epoch in the state of our country, 
developed the men for the American Revolution. England, 
in compelling her American subjects to fight her battles 
for her, was unconscious that she was training them 
worthily and well, to become her most successful foes ; 
that in thus getting glory to her arms, should be the means, 
ultimately, of bringing glory to them and defeat to her. 
Washington, on the western frontier of Virginia, fighting 
the French and Indians, grew into early distinction. Gen- 
eral Gage earned a fine military reputation during this 
period, and General Philip Schuyler became conspicuous.! 

Sir William Johnson, who, had he lived in the time of 
the Revolution, might have restained his violently loyalist 
family, even if he had chosen to remain true to the King, 
was one of the most remarkable men of the period of which 

*The attractions of the Jesuit faith which had so long been an influence among 
the Iroquois, drew off many to the Mission. Several parties went there to live. 
whom M. Picquet used as a means to ferment the leaven of distrust and jealousy 
of the English. 

f Putnam was at Tjconderoga, one of the bravest; Morgan was at Braddock's 
defeat, and Stark, afterwards the hero of Bennington, was a Captain of Rangers 
In this war. 



68 MADISON COUNTY. 

we now write. Among the Indians he was a power over- 
shadowing the combined influence of all the French diplo- 
mats, including the insinuating rivalry of Father Francois 
Picquet. 

Gens. Bradstreet, Johnson, Wolf, Amherst, Shirley, Stan- 
wix, Colonel Mercer and many other brave men, gave luster 
to England's glory, while Generals Dieskau, Montcalm 
and Du Quesne, with signal renown long upheld their 
country's banner, and parried the impending doom of 
French dominion. The battles of Saratoga, Lake Cham- 
plain, Crown Point, the Cascades, Ticonderoga, Oswego 
and those on the Mohawk River, attest to the skill, daring 
and bravery of these men. However, the mind is filled with 
horror when the scenes of carnage are recalled, for the 
savages attached to these armies, particularly those under 
command of Father Francois Picquet, incited by intoxica- 
ting liquors, committed barbarities which even their com- 
mander could not restrain. Father Picquet distinguished 
himself and won the compliment from Du Quesne, as one 
who " was worth more than ten regiments." 

Sir William Johnson in addition to being Indian Agent, 
was Major General of the Indian forces in the British 
interest, and had also a command of Englishmen. Under 
his generalship was fought the celebrated battle of Lake 
George, in September, 1755. His body of Indians was 
under command of Hendrick the celebrated Mohawk Chief- 
tain, who was at that time between sixty and sixty-five 
years of age. This brave old hero of the Mohawks fell in 
this battle, and the English lost the gallant Col. Williams. 
The French were defeated, their General, Baron Dieskau, 
wounded and made prisoner, and on the English side Gen. 
Johnson was wounded. 

Montcalm succeeding Dieskau, skillfully cut his way 
through in a path of conquest, gaining command of Lake 
Champlain, Lake George, confirming the French power 



INDIANS. 69 

over the Western Lakes and the valley of the Mississippi. 
" Their occupation of Fort Du Quesne enabled them to 
cultivate the friendship, and continue their influence over 
the Indians west of the Alleghanies. Their line of com- 
munication reached from Canada to Louisana, and they 
were masters of the vast territory that spread out beyond 
it." Sir William Johnson's power over the Iroquois, alone, 
deterred them from immediate possession of a large portion 
of New York. From statements made in a report of that 
time, the following plan was arranged to secure possession 
of the Iroquois country. " The French had assembled in 
the neighborhood of Cadaraqui and Swegatchie about eight 
hundred Indians, Ottawas and other nations, and were pre- 
paring to march two thousand men to Oswego Falls, there 
build a strong fort to prevent provisions or reinforcements 
from going to Oswego. That another party were to march 
the new road from Swegatchie and build a fort at the west 
end of Oneida Lake. When these posts were secured a 
third party were to make a descent upon the German Flats, 
destroy the magazines there, cut off the garrison and in- 
habitants, and burn the settlements ; a fourth party were to 
attack Sir Wm. Johnson's house, kill or take him, and rav- 
age the settlements on that part of the Mohawk River." 
This plan was pretty successfully inaugurated, for in August 
of 1756, the French under Montcalm, invested and cap- 
tured Fort Oswego. Sir Wm. Johnson's report imme- 
diately after states, that " the French had very politically 
possessed themselves of important passes ; [in the Iroquois 
country,] * * * t^g Indians have not reach enough 
to foresee the consequences of the valuable morsels the 
French have pitched upon." The French, after having se- 
cured these points, " sent word to the Onondaga Indians 
that they had now drove the English from their lands, and 
would not like them keep possession, but leave them free to 
them and their posterity forever. The French, in fact, did 
not want that place, so made their policy appear virtue to 



70 MADISON COUNTY, 

the Indians, and the plausibihty of it will doubtless influ- 
ence them in their favor." 

The Iroquois Confederacy at this period was a great 
power, which knew its own influence to be of immense im- 
portance to the contending powers. Measures were on foot 
to enlarge their Confederacy by bringing in the western In- 
dians. Sir Wm. Johnson strongly recommended this policy, 
believing that would secure all the power of the Indians of 
the northern part of the Continent to the British interest. 
Pontiac, the Great Chief of all the Ottawas, defeated this 
measure, and gave his strength to the cause of the French ; 
and the anticipated peace to follow around the borders of 
the Lakes was not realized. The Indians, believing that the 
Great Spirit helps the successful and turns His face 
from those whom He designs shall be defeated, became waver- 
ing in their faith in the English. This was especially notice- 
able among the western tribes where Sir William Johnson's 
presence was not frequent. Considerable numbers of the 
Senecas went over to the French ; the Cayugas and Onon- 
dagas took a neutral stand ; and, says Sir William, "tis 
probable our destroying the works at, and abandoning the 
Oneida Carrying place last summer, [1756,] may produce a 
neutrality of the Oneidas and Tuscaroras." 

In 1757, a descent was made into the Mohawk valley by 
M. De Belletre, and the massacre of the German Flats was 
committed, — a deplorable circumstance, which still further 
affected the confidence of the Iroquois, and only for the 
prompt attention of Sir William, the Oneidas would have 
been led into the snare of the French who were now rejoic- 
ing in the fullness of unequaled success. These calamitous 
events produced a feeling of gloom and despondency 
throughout the colonies, and the season which was nearly 
passed, put an end to all further operations. 

The supremacy of the French on this continent was now 
at its zenith ; henchforward, all change tended to decline 



INDIANS. 71 

and dispossession. The year 1758 was destined to effect 
this change in the fortunes of the contending powers, and 
the victors were to become the vanquished. Flushed with 
success, the French were not prepared for the tide which 
at length set against them. 

Inspired by wise counsels the English Government re- 
organized its army. Incompetent commanders were recalled, 
and men of military genius and wisdom were placed in their 
stead. The expeditions moved forward with new spirit 
and success from the first. Fort Frontenac, after a battle, 
fell into the hands of Colonel Bradstreet. Fort Du Ouesne, 
on the approach of the English army, was deserted by the 
French, whose power over the Indians of the Ohio 
and Alleghanies, suddenly waned. Although the attempts 
to take Crown Point and Ticonderoga were defeated, yet 
these were relinquished and the English gained easy pos- 
session. The next year, 1759, the 25th day of July, Fort 
Niagara was taken. On the death of Gen. Prideaux at this 
battle, the command devolved upon Sir William Johnson, 
of whom it was remarked in a letter written from the scene 
of action, " Sir William Johnson has gained immorta' 
honors in this affair. The army have the highest opinion 
of him, and the Indians adore him, [there were six hundred 
Indians with him at this battle,] as his conduct has been 
steady and judicious ; he has carried on the seige with 
spirit." Subsequently it was stated, that by the assiduity 
and influence of Sir William Johnson, " there were upwards 
of eleven hundred Indians* convened there, who, by their 
good behavior have justly gained the esteem of the whole 
army. * 

In the meantime General Wolf was vigorously carrying 
forward his operations against General Montcalm, at Que- 
bec. Upon the issue of his movements hung the fate of the 
contest. The commanders on each side saw the emergency, 

* Turner's Hist. Holland Purchase, page 209. 



72 MADISON COUNTY. 

and both with characteristic vigor, perfected their plans 
which culminated in the decisive battle of Quebec, in which 
both of these noble men fell, one as the " shouts of victory- 
were ringing louder and louder in his failing ears," the 
other with the fervent wish upon his dying lips that he 
might not " live to see the surrender of Quebec," and his 
country's dominions pass into the hands of another. 

Although the fires of battle still smouldered and burst 
forth in several places during the beginning of 1760, yet 
the battle of Quebec was the decisive blow. A formidable 
army under Gen. Amherst, joined by Sir William Johnson 
with a thousand of the Six Nations, consolidated with Gen. 
Murray at Montreal in September of that year, whose work 
was to reduce the French who still held out at that post. 
On the arrival of the British army, Vaudreuil, the Governor, 
understanding his inability to successfully resist them, 
resolved on capitulation, and the 7th of September, 1760, 
Montreal, Detroit, and all places of strength in Canada, 
were surrendered to the British Crown. 

A treaty of peace was definitely concluded at Paris, be- 
tween England and France in 1763, and the French do- 
minion in America passed away, never more to molest the 
inhabitants of New York, or to harass the Iroquois. The 
long bloody contest was closed. Hailed with joy was the 
peace which followed, only too soon to be broken by a far 
different conflict. 

Sir William Johnson had acted well his part in this war. 
He began his work as General Agent of the English to the 
Six Nations. He looked well to the condition of the na- 
tions and knew them better than any other man. 

November i8th, 1763, he sent to the Government the 
following report of the Nations : — 

" The Mohawks have one hundred and sixty men. Two 
villages on the Mohawk River, with a few emigrants at 
Scoharie, about sixteen miles from Fort Hunter. 



INDIANS. 73 

" Oneidas two hundred and fifty men ; two villages, one 
twenty-five miles from Fort Stanwix, the other twelve 
miles west of Oneida Lake [at Canaseraga] with emigrants 
in several places toward the Susquehanna River. 

" Tuscaroras one hundred and forty men ; one village six 
miles from the first Oneidas [at Stockbridge] and several 
others about the Susquehanna. 

" Onondagas, one hundred and fifty men ; one large vil- 
lage six miles from the lake of their name, [which is the 
place of Congress for the Confederates,] with a smaller at 
some distance. 

" Cayuga, two hundred men ; one large village near the 
lake of their name, with several others from thence to the 
Susquehanna. 

" Senecas, ten hundred and fifty men ; have several vil- 
lages, beginning about fifty miles from Cayuga, from thoice 
to Cbennessio, the largest about 70 miles from Niagara, 
with others thence to the Ohio. Of the Senecas, two vil- 
lages are still in our interest. The rest have joined the 
western Nations. 

" Remarks. — Of the Six Nations the Mohawks and On- 
ondagas and Senecas are considered the Chief and elder 
branches. The Oneidas, Cayugas, and Tuscaroras are 
younger ; the last mentioned Nation having many years 
ago retired from the south, and were admitted into the 
Confederacy with the Five Nations, the Oneidas giving 
them the land and they now enjoy all the privileges with 
the rest." 

No wliite man had possessed such influence over the Iro- 
quois as Sir Wm. Johnson. He became their Counsellor, 
their Physician, their Chief and their Father. He called 
many Conventions of the Nations to which almost the en- 
tire Confederacy answered by their presence. We read of 
a famous Convention held in September, 1753, at Onon- 



74 MADISON COUNTY. 

daga, in which Hendrick the Great Mohawk Chieftain, was 
present, and where " Red Head," the head Chief of the On- 
ondagas, answered the speech of Sir WilHam. Many times 
the Indians convened at Johnson's residence on the Mo- 
hawk, and there tarried many days, being generously feast- 
ed by their host. One of the most remarkable of these 
Congresses was held at Fort Stanwix in September and 
October, 1768, which Sir William called for the purpose of 
fixing the limits and determining the geographical line be- 
tween the Six Nations and the English. Commissioners 
from the Colony of Virginia, with the Governor of New 
Jersey and of Pennsylvania, were present to assist at the 
treaty. The Indians came in companies, or tribes, and en- 
camped, but as all did not come on immediately, many from 
a distance stopping at the towns on their way, having pri- 
vate affairs and conferences to hold, the general Con- 
gress was deferred till the main body had arrived. The 
meeting was opened the 25th of October, when three 
thousand had arrived and they still continued to come. The 
numbers exceeded the provisions made by the government 
for their reception and maintenance, and for more than one 
month a large part of these numbers subsisted upon the 
bounties provided by the host. He remarks in a letter to 
Lord Hillsborough, the 23d of October, as follows : " I 
was much concerned on this occasion by reason of the great 
consumption of provisions, and the heavy expense attending 
the maintenance of those Indians on the spot, * * * 
each of whom consumes daily more than two ordinary men 
and would be extremely dissatisfied if stinted when con- 
vened for business. * * * This circumstance alone was 
very disagreeable from the difficulty of getting provisions, 
there being none nearer than Albany, and very Httle there 
except some cattle at an extravagant price." 

From all points of the compass the tribes came in ; the 
Delawares and Shawnees from the South, bringing with 



INDIANS. 75 

them on their way the tribes from Oquago (members of the 
Oneida family) ; the trails of the Susquehanna, the Unadilla 
and Chenango, swarmed with hosts of red men. From the 
east the Mohawks and other eastern tribes came in ; from 
the rivers of the west came up fleets of canoes over Lake 
Oneida ; the trails of northern Madison County were worn 
deeper by the long defile of Oneidas and Tuscaroras, joined 
by their comrades of the south and west ; and Oswegat- 
chie sent down her Catholic Iroquois. 

This grand council was to decide an old and oft-repeated 
cause of contention and jealousy, viz : the encroachments 
of white settlers on their lands. The whole matter was 
raked up from the beginning. The Iroquois had first 
peaceably suffered the white race to settle on much of their 
land on the Mohawk and east of the Susquehanna; but 
they did not relish the wholesale covetousness, with which 
they appropriated and added to that already given them. 
The jealousy of the Indians was quite aroused in this respect 
before the close of the seventeenth century. At a council 
called at Albany by the Colonial Governor, Dongan, in 1683, 
the Sachems were questioned so closely and carefully as to 
the situation of the lands of the Susquehanna River, that 
they demanded wherefore such particular information was 
sought. Upon being asked if they were willing that white 
people should settle there, they signified their assent. But 
it appears that the proprietors of Pennsylvania had been 
disposed to count the lands of the Susquehanna, howsoever 
far they might extend to the north, as a part of the Penn- 
sylvania purchase, and the Five Nations did not so regard 
it. In order to secure themselves from encroachments by 
Pennsylvania, they, in a treaty in 1684, put themselves and 
their lands under the protection of the Duke of York. In 
1686 the Governor of New York gave seals to the Indians, 
with instructions to seize any man found trading or hunting 
on the Susquehanna lands without the Governor's s^al or 



76 MADISON COUNTY. 

pass, and to deliver him to Albany to be punished accord- 
ing to law. With decision characteristic of the race, those 
seals were promptly returned to the Governor with these 
words : " A man whose goods is taken from him will de- 
fend himself, which will create trouble or war j * * * 
therefore, we deliver the seals to your Honor again, that 
we may live wholly in peace." 

Watchful lest they should be made the victims of du- 
plicity, they had detected in this movement a plan to use 
them against the Pennsylvanians, ostensibly for their own 
security, but really to establish the dominion of the pro- 
vince of New York. In the treaty of 1701, again renewed 
and ratified in 1726, the Iroquois had learned better how to 
arrange diplomatic treaties with the long-headed British. 
The limits of their hunting grounds comprehending the 
large lakes and sixty miles around them, were tolerably clear 
in their deed, and yet there was sufficient margin for 
difficulties. Grasping, avaricious individuals who had ob- 
tained grants on the borders of the Indian country, took ad- 
vantage, in the absence of surveyed lines, to enlarge upon 
their borders to an unlimited extent. The bounds of many 
grants having no survey, were expressed by the Indian 
names of brooks, rivulets, hills, ponds, falls of water, &c., 
and stated in an uncertain manner. The fact that these 
Indian names were not real local names, only the general 
names signifying, broad brook, a small brook, a high hill, 
&c., and which were appKed to many other places, gave op- 
portunity for the possessor, with his deed bearing the license 
of those words, " Be it more or less," to explain and enlarge 
those grants according to his inclination ; and also to lo- 
cate them, as Golden says, " in what place or part of the 
country they please, of which I can give some particular in- 
stances where the claims of some have increased many 
miles in a few years." At a public meeting with Sir Wm. 
Johnson, in 1755, one of the Chiefs in a speech, said: 



INDIANS. 'J'J 

" Brothers, you desire us to unite and live together, and 
draw all our allies near us, but we shall have no land left 
either for ourselves or them, for your people when they buy 
a small piece of us, by stealing they make it large. We de- 
sire such things may not be done, that your people may not 
be suffered to buy any more of our lands. Sometimes its 
bought of two men who are not the proper owners of it 
The land which reaches down from Oswego to Wyoming 
we beg may not be settled by Christians. The Governor 
of Pennsylvania bought a whole tract and only paid for half, 
and desire you will let him know that we will not part with 
the other half, but keep it. These things makes us con- 
stantly uneasy in our minds, and we desire that you will 
take care that we may keep our land for ourselves." 

Sir William Johnson from the time cf his arrival among 
the Indians, sought to correct this deplorable state of aftairs 
and eradicate the evils arising therefrom. For that purpose 
he held those frequent councils, and patiently listening to 
their grievances, carefully probed the matter to the bottom, 
and wisely arranged the plans for its settlement. He had 
been in separate conference with the Nations at their own 
castles during the year 1767, and knew well their mind as 
to where a satisfactory boundary line could be drawn. He 
states in a letter to General Gage, dated October 2 2d, 
I j^"], that he had been absent three weeks at Oneida Lake, 
to confer with them and settle the difficulties regarding the 
encroachment of irontier settlements. The Indians after 
detaihng their many grievances, said they had received 
" a belt from an officer on the Mississippi, with a message 
to inform them that they need not longer be trifled with by 
the English, for that he [meaning the Government to which 
he belonged, Spain,] having sat down quietly for some time 
and being about to rise up, luckily discovered his ax beside 
him, and found that it was as sharp as ever, therefore 
exhorted them to take up theirs likewise." 



yS MADISON COUNTY. 

In the Grand Council at Fort Stanwix in 1768, above 
mentioned, the "Line of Property" was to be settled ; the 
boundary between the whites and Indians to be located and 
decided upon, before any reasonable measures could be 
adopted. Johnson found it necessary to use his utmost 
influence to divest their minds of the ill feeling stirred up 
by the Spanish, and to dispossess them of the hopes incited 
thereby. He also iound it very difficult to locate the 
boundary line as far to the westward as it seemed necessary, 
"as many of them were for closing it by running it to the 
next patented lands, which would have limited the province 
of New York in such a manner as must have produced 
some complaints." However, he accomplished the treaty of 
the "Boundary Line," having it located at the place where 
he intended it should be, which reserved to the Indians all 
the western part of the State, the eastern boundary running 
from the Pennsylvania line northward up the Susquehanna 
River to the Unadilla, thence across the country to Canada 
Creek where it empties into wood Creek, (which last men- 
tioned water falls into Oneida Lake,) and from there to a 
point indefinitely stated as at the northward of Oswego. 

The settlement of this boundary line was a measure of 
utmost importance toward the settlement of the country, and 
the inhabitants realizing a degree of security, dared once 
more take up their abode on the frontier. 

But the Iroquois were ill at ease. They no longer had 
the French to disturb them, and they now began to listen 
to the persuasions of the Spanish, who, on the Mississippi, 
were fermenting difficulties with the western Indians. Brit- 
ain and Spain were at war, and it became the interest of 
the Spanish to enlist the savages to conquer the American 
dominions for them. Sir William Johnson, the faithful 
friend of the Iroquois and the bond of union between them 
and the British Nation, everywhere made himself conspicu- 
ous among them. In travelins: through their towns he 



INDIANS. 79 

found them destitute and suffering for food, from a failure 
of the corn crop in 1769. Immediately he went home and 
forwarded them a supply. They poured into his ears many 
complaints, to which he says : " It may not be amiss here 
to remark that when Indians are disposed to quarrel, they 
collect all the material they can as grounds for their con- 
duct, and often insist on grievances which have in reality 
given them little concern ; the true cause is often misrepre- 
sented, and therefore the proper remedy is wanting." 

The true cause was a desire on the part of many to unite 
with the western Indians, who, under Spanish instigation 
were anxious for this consummation. To effect this 
alliance, they held a great Council of the Northern and 
Southern Confederacies on the plains of the Sciota in 1770. 
Sir William apprehended the meaning of this congress, and 
through his influence and the natural aversion of some of 
the Six Nations to the Southern Indians, it was not con- 
summated. 

The difficulties between the American Colonists and the 
mother country were now fomenting, which could not fail to 
stir up the Iroquois. Sir William Johnson saw the porten- 
tious clouds with deep anxiety. He could not avert the im- 
pending conflict. He had received too many favors from 
the mother country to willingly turn his back upon her. 
To the day of his death, he interested himself solely with 
the interests of the Indians, taking no part in the increasing 
embroils. 

SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON. 

Of a personage so remarkable as Sir William Johnson, 
something more than a passing notice should be given, as 
he passes off from the stage of action and out of this period 
of history. From " Turner's History," the following is 
transferred : 

"The year 1740, is signalized by the advent upon the 
Mohawk, of one who was destined to exercise an important 



80 MADISON COUNTY. 

influence, and occupy a conspicuous place in our Colonial 
history. Sir William Johnson was a native of Ireland. 
He left his native country in consequence of the unfavorable 
issue of a love affair. His uncle, Sir Peter Warren, an 
Admiral in the English navy, owned by government grant 
a large tract of land — fifteen thousand acres — within the 
present town of Florida, Montgomery county. Young 
Johnson became his agent, and located himself in the year 
above named at Warren's Bush, a few miles from the pres- 
ent village of Port Jackson. He now began that intercourse 
with the Indians, which was to prove so beneficial to the 
English in the last French war that soon followed, the in- 
fluences of which were to be so prejudicial to the colonial 
interests, in the war of the Revolution. He made himself 
familiar with their language, spoke it with ease and fluency, 
watched their habits and peculiarities ; studied their man- 
ners, and by his mildness and prudence, gained their favor 
and confidence, and an unrivalled ascendancy over them. 
In all important matters he was generally consulted by 
them, and his advice followed. In 1755 he was entrusted 
with a command in the provincial service of New York. 
He marched against Crown Point, and after the repulse of 
Col. Williams, he defeated and took Dieskau prisoner. For 
this service the Parliament voted him five thousand pounds 
and the King made him a Baronet. The reader will have 
noticed his eftective agency in keeping the Six Nations in 
the English interests, and his military achievements at 
Niagara. 

" From the following notice, which appeared in a contem- 
porary publication — the London Gentleman's Magazine, 
for September, 1755 — it will be seen how well adapted he 
was to the peculiar offices and agencies that devolved upon 
him. It is an extract from a journal written in this country : 

•' Major General Johnson (an Irish gentleman,) is univer- 
sally esteemed in our parts, for the part he sustains. 



INDIANS. 8 1 

Besides his skill and experience as an ofificer, he is particu- 
larly happy in making himself beloved by all sorts of peo- 
ple, and can conform to all companies and conversations. 
He is very much of the fine gentleman in genteel company. 
But as the inhabitants next him are mostly Dutch, he sits 
down with them and smokes his tobacco, drinks flip, and 
talks of improvements, bear and beaver skins. Being sur- 
rounded with Indians, he speaks several of their languages 
well, and has always some of them with him. His house is 
a hospitable retreat for them from the enemy. He takes 
care of their wives and children when they go out on parties, 
and even wears their dress. In short by his honest dealings 
with them in trade, and his courage, which has often been 
successfully tried with them, and his courteous behavior, he 
has so endeared himself to them, that they chose him one 
of their Chief Sachems or princes, and esteem him as their 
common father." 

" Miss Eleanor Wallaslous, a fair and comely Dutch 
girl, who had been sold to limited service in New York, to 
pay her passage across the ocean, to one of his neighbors, 
soon supplied the place of the fair one in Ireland whose 
fickleness had been the means of impelling him to new 
scenes and associations in the backwoods of America. 
Although taking her to his bed and board, and for a long 
period acknowledging her as his wife, he never married her 
until she was upon her death bed, a measure necessary to 
legitimatize his three children, who afterwards became Sir 
John Johnson, Mrs. Guy Johnson and Mrs. Colonel Claus. 
His next wife was Molly Brant, sister of the conspicuous 
Chieftain of that name. He was married to her a few 
years before his death, for the same purpose that was con- 
summated in the previous instance. 

" Colden says of Sir William, that ' he dressed himself 
after the Indian manner, made frequent dances after their 
customs when they excite war, and used all the means he 

F 



Si MADISON COUNTY. 

could think of, at a considerable expense, to engage-them in 
a war against Canada.' " 

Sir William Johnson's courtly demeanor and oratorical 
powers, v/on the admiration of the Indians, and his familiar- 
ity, their love and confidence. His quick perceptions and 
ingenious management made him famous among a race who 
prided themselves on their cunning. The following anec- 
dote illustrates the manner in which he outwitted the 
celebrated Mohawk Chief Hendrick, who was at his house 
when he received several suits of rich lace clothes. A 
short time after, the Chief came to him and said, " I dream." 
•' Well, what did you dream ? " " I dream you give me one 
suit of clothes." This hint. Sir William could not well 
avoid and accordingly gave him a suit. Some time after, 
meeting Hendrick, Sir William said to him, " I dreamed 
last night." " Did you ! What did you dream ?" " I 
dreamed you gave me a tract of land;" at the same time de- 
scribing a tract lying in the present county of Herkimer, 
twelve miles square. Hendrick was at first surprised at the 
enormity of the demand, but at length said, " You may 
have the land ; dn^ we no dremn again, you dream too hard 
for me." The title to this tract was confirmed by the King 
and was called the " Royal Grant." 

Extracts of portions of speeches made at a Congress of 
the Nations holden at Onondaga, September 8th, 1753, 
illustrates his mode of conference with them. It was the oc- 
casion of the death of three renowned Chiefs, A deputa_ 
tion of Sachems came out a mile from the Onondaga village 
to meet Col. Johnson. After entering their place of coun- 
cil, the Sachem, Red Head, rose up and said : 

" Brother Warraghiiyagey [Johnson's Indian name] : — 

As you enter our meeting place with 
wet eyes and sorrowful heart in conjunction with our 
Brethren the Mohawks, we do with this string of Wampum 
wipe away your tears and assuage your grief that you may 



INDIANS. 



83 



speak freely in this assembly." Here they gave a string of 
wampum. Sir William Johnson replies : 

" Brethren of the Six Nations : — 

The great concern I am under 
for the loss of our three great and beloved brothers, Cagh- 
niagasota, Onughsadego and Gahusquerowana, who in their 
time made your assembly complete, makes it incumbent 
upon me to condole their death, and as it is a great loss to 
us in general, I do by these three belts of wampum dry up 
your tears that we may see each other, clear your throats 
that we may speak together, and wash away their blood out 
of our sight, and cover their bones with these strowd 
blankets." Here he gave three belts of wampum and three 
blankets of strowds. 

Sir William was desirous that the gospel should be taught 
the natives, and his request to the Home government that 
every Castle, especially where there is a garrison, be pro- 
vided with a rninister of the gospel, was frequently and ur- 
gently repeated. He asked especially that Onondaga and 
Oneida be thus supplied, reminding his government of the 
French, who, through their priests had accomplished so 
much. He also deprecated the sale of intoxicating liquors, 
and called for its suppression among the natives. If the 
government had as faithfully attended to his reasonable re- 
quests, as he carried out all orders entrusted to him, it 
would have been the better for all parties concerned. 

Sir William Johnson died on the 24th of June, 1774. A 
council with the Indians was in progress at the time, which 
was concluded by Guy Johnson, after his decease. 

Johnson had for nearly thirty-five years exercised an 
almost one man power, not only in his own immediate do- 
main, but far beyond. A contemporary says : " In his 
character were blended many sterling virtues, with vices 
that are perhaps to be attributed in a greater degree to the 
freedom of backwood's life, — the absence of restraints which 
the ordinances of civilization imposes, — than to radical 
defects. His talents, it must be inferred, were of a high 



84 MADISON COUNTY. 

order ; his achievements at Niagara alone, would entitle him 
to the character of a brave and skillful military commander ; 
and in the absence of amiable social qualities, he could 
hardly have gained so strong a hold upon the confidence 
and respect of the Six Nations, as we see he maintained up 
to the period of his death." 

In regard to the momentous struggle pending, it has been 
inferred that his purpose was wavering. He undoubtedly 
would have gladly avoided any participation therein. As 
the storm of civil discord was gathering he declared to sev- 
eral of his friends, that " England and her colonies were 
approaching a terrible war, but that he should never live to 
witness it'.' During the court, in session at the time of his 
death, he received a package of a political nature from Eng- 
land. He left the court house, being unwell when he 
received it, went to his house, took to his bed and in a few 
hours died. 

His son, Sir John Johnson, succeeded to his titles and 
estates. His son-in-law. Col. Guy Johnson, who had long 
been his assistant and deputy, received the authority of 
General Superintendent of Indian affairs ; in this he was 
assisted by another son-in-law. Col. Dan Claus. These 
were none of them Sir William's equals in talent, and had 
not many of the good qualities he possessed. They used 
the power he transmitted to them, in a manner, we are justi- 
fied in inferring, it would not have been used had he lived to 
exercise it. 



In 1756, the Six Nations were estimated at twelve 
hundred warriors, or six thousand souls ; in 1760, at seven 
thousand five hundred ; in 1763, Sir Wm. Johnson took the 
Indian census, from the northwestern, northern and Hudson 
River Indians to the Mississippi. He stated that the 
Oneida warriors were two hundred and fifty, the Tuscaroras 
one hundred and forty, while he estimates that there were 



INDIANS. 85 

in the Six Nations seven thousand seven hundred and fifty 
souls. 

The Revolutionary war broke out. The Johnsons used 
their great influence to interest the natives in the cause of 
the British. They were at length aroused by inflammatory 
appeals, and a large part of the warriors of the Nations, 
excepting the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, engaged in the 
sanguinary conflict. By 1777, they were fairly engaged 
with the British in a series of massacres, which startled the 
whole country by its terrible bloody details. The retalia- 
tion was given in 1779 by the incursion of Gen. Sullivan and 
his army, which devastated their homes through all their 
borders, leaving only the neutral Oneidas unharmed. This 
was the most terrible disaster that had ever befallen the 
Confederacy. With the defeat of the English the power of 
the Iroquois was destroyed, and their unity and strength 
broken. They had involved their homes and forfeited them 
with their defeat. They, however, still maintain their 
Castles, and each nation, isolated, surrounded by the white 
race, still preserve their ancient traditions and customs^ 
though greatly modified by Christianity and schools. 

ONEIDAS. 

The most ancient knowledge we have of the Oneidas is 
also derived from tradition. David Cusick particular- 
izes the planting of the Oneidas, at the time when the Great 
Leader was establishing the families. 

After planting the Mohawks, the company journeyed 
westward two days and a half and came to a creek called 
Kaw-na-taw-ta-ruh (i. e. Pine Woods Creek.) This creek, 
according to Cusick, " had its head in Col. Allen's* Lake 
about ten miles south of Oneida Castle, and is a branch of 
the Susquehanna." The Indians usually spoke of the differ- 
ent branches of that river, viz., the Chenango, Unadilla, 
&c., as the " Susquehanna branches ;" this was the Che- 

*Leland's. 



86 MADISON COUNTY. 

nango branch. " The second family were directed to take 
up their residence near that creek, and they were named 
Ne-haw-ve-tah-go, meaning " Big Tree," and their language 
was slightly changed." 

Another tradition of the Oneidas, says, that they in all 
their wanderings were followed by a remarkable stone, (a 
huge granite boulder,) but which finally rested upon one of 
the highest hills in the country. Thus they came by the 
name Oneida or O-ne-i-ta, meaning the " people of the 
Stone." They looked upon this stone as a body endowed 
with life and intelligence, hence the word Oneita, in their 
dialect, from " OneV meaning " stone " and "■ ta" signifying 
"life" or " living stone." O-ne-i-ta was accented on the 
third syllable and spoken in the softest manner possible. 
The stone was a symbol of their nationality, and they were 
every where known by the mark of a stone set in the fork of 
a tree. 

Their earliest home, where the stone rested, was on one 
of the highest hills in the town of Stockbridge, and the two 
traditions agree as to the locality. The name given in the 
latter is pronounced similar to that given by Cusick, though 
differently spelled — Ca-nagh-ta-ragh-ta-ragh. It is, how- 
ever, spelled in various ways. Here, in a valley, south of the 
eminence where the stone rested, they settled and built 
their town, and by this stone they assembled to hold their 
councils and prepare for war, and here they built their 
beacon fires which might be seen for a great distance by 
the country round. 

The most palpable proofs of the early date of their settle- 
ment here, is found in the fact that a new forest has grown 
up since they cultivated their corn fields, the corn hills of 
which, a few years ago, were still visible upon those ancient 
fields. Upon counting the concentric circles, or annular 
grains formed in these, they are over three hundred years 
old, showing that the Oneidas ceased to cultivate these 
fields as far back as 1560, or thereabouts. 



INDIANS. 87 

From the earliest dates, the Oneidas were regarded by 
their brethern as remarkable in eloquence, hence great in 
council, and distinguished for their aptitude in cultivating 
the arts, and, perhaps weaker in warfare. 

When Father Simon Le Moine was sent out to the 
Iroquois by the French Governor, M, De Lauzon, and 
established a mission at Onondaga in 1654, he met a con- 
ference of all the nations, and listened to the congratula- 
tions and speeches of all the chiefs. He particularly 
reports the speech which followed his own, which is the 
first recorded speech of any Chief of the Oneida Nation. 
It is to be regretted that Father Le Moine did not give the 
Chief's name. As Father Le Moine was bearer of words 
from the Governor, he was addressed as that personage. 

" Onnontio " said the Chief — meaning the Governor, — 
''Onnontio, thou art the pillar of the earth ; thy spirit is a 
spirit of peace, and thy words soften the hearts of the 
most rebellious of spirits." After other compliments, . 
expressed in a tone animated by love and respect, he pro- 
duced four large belts, to thank Onnontio for having 
encouraged them to fight bravely against their new enemies 
of the Cat Nation, and for having exhorted them never 
again to war against the French. " Thy voice," said he, 
^' Onnontio, is wonderful, to produce in my breast at one 
time two effects entirely dissimilar ; thou animatest me to 
war, and softenest my heart by thoughts of peace ; thou 
art great both in peace and war, mild to those whom thou 
lovest, and terrible to thine enemies. We wish thee to love 
us and we will love the French for thy sake." 

From the Jesuit missionary, Father Jacques Bruyas, 
who was established at Oneida in 1667, we learn further of 
the characteristics of the Oneidas. They were by him 
regarded as more vigilant and suspicious than the other 
nations. He says, the Oneidas had "always embar- 
rassed affairs when they appeared to be about arranged." 
At the same time he conceded them to be superior to the 



S8 MADISON COUNTY, 

other natives in intelligence. Undoubtedly their intracti- 
bility was owing to the insight they had of the motives of 
the French. They were considered by the Jesuits as an 
unfavorable class for Christianizing, as will be seen by the 
following extract from their Journals in 1668-9. "The 
Nation of the Oneidas is about thirty leagues toward the 
south and west from the Mohawks, and one hundred and 
forty from Quebec ; are of all the Iroquois the least tract- 
able, and the arms of the French not yet having penetrated 
so far, they fear us only through the experience of their neigh- 
bors, the Mohawks. This nation [Oneidas] which despises 
the others in their defeat, is in a disposition contrary to the 
Christian faith, and by its arrogance and pride, tries the 
patience of a missionary very sorely. It was necessary 
that providence should assign them a peculiar man, and 
chose for them a spirit who might by his mildness, conquer 
or allay their wild and fierce disposition. Father Bruyas 
has been the man destined for their service, but his labors 
has generally been rewarded only by rebuffs and contempt. 
* * * * The number of baptized amount already to 
near thirty, most of whom are already in glory." 

In 1671, Father Pierre Millet was established at Oneida, 
and the mission was represented as flourishing. He con- 
tinued at this place, having great influence with the Oneidas 
and the neighboring nations till he was recalled during the 
troubles between the Iroquois and French, between the 
years 1690 and '96. Father Millet and Father Lamberville 
(the latter stationed at Onondaga,) had both endeavored 
to conciliate the parties, in order to avert the impending 
struggle, but Count Frontenac, the able French Governor, 
would not longer refrain from his purpose of subjugating 
the Iroquois. 

The year 1696, was one forever to be remembered by the 
Oneidas as well as by the whole Confederacy, for Count 
Frontenac's descent upon the Iroquois was attended with 
the worst consequences to them. The invaders reached 



INDIANS. 89 

Onondaga the 4th day of August, 1696, and found the 
Indians had all fled ; their strong and admirably constructed 
castle, the triple palisades which protected their fort.and their 
cabins, had all been destroyed by fire. The scouts reported 
having seen trails proceeding from the Onondaga village to 
Cayuga and Oneida, which induced them to believe that 
the women and children withdrew thither. De Frontenac 
encamped and secured himself by outposts here. The 
next day in the afternoon, a Frenchman who had been a 
prisoner, and an Oneida, arrived from that village with a 
belt of wampum in the name of that Nation, soliciting 
peace. Count Frontenac immediately sent them back, 
promising peace on condition of their removing to Canada, 
establishing themselves and their families there, where 
land would be given to them by the government. He 
added, if their " wives and children were not ready, they 
should bring five of their most influential Chiefs as hostages, 
and they should soon be followed by the army to oblige 
them by force to execute the conditions imposed on them." 
The report says : — 

" On the morning of the 6th of August, Mons. De Vau- 
dreuil, a prominent commander in De Frontenac's army, 
departed for the Oneidas with a detachment of six or seven 
hundred of the most active men of the whole army, soldiers, 
militia and Indians. He had under him six of the best 
Captains, and picked Lieutenants and subaltern officers. 
As it was necessary to use great expedition, they did not 
march in exact order. M. De Vaudreuil contented himself 
by throwing out scouts some quarter of a league in advance, 
and on the wings between the scouts and the main body 
he placed a detached corps of fifty, commanded in turn by 
a Lieutenant. They arrived on the same day before sun- 
down within a league of the village ; they would have 
pushed even farther if the convenience of encamping on the 
bank of a beautiful river [Oneida Creek,] had not invited 
them to halt. They were at first dawn, in sight of the vil- 
lage, and as they were about to enter the fields of Indian 
corn they were met by the deputies of all that nation. 



90 MADISON COUNTY, 

" They requested M. De Vaudreuil to halt, fearing that 
•our savages would spoil their crops, assuring that they 
would execute in good faith the orders that Mons. Le 
Compte had given to their first delegates. 

" As Mons. De Vaudreuil determined also on his side to 
obey punctually those which he had received, told them it 
was useless for them to think of preserving their grain, as, 
according to the word of their Father, [French Governor,] 
they should not want for any when retired among us ; that 
therefore he should cut all down ; that their forts and cabins 
would not, either, be spared, having everything ready for 
their reception. 

" He found in the village but twenty-five and forty men, 
almost all having fled at sight of the detachment, but the 
most influential Chiefs had remained. M. De Vaudreuil 
consented that two or three men should follow these fugi- 
tives and try to bring them back. On entering this village, 
a young French woman was found a prisoner, just arrived 
from the Mohawk. She reported that that nation and the 
English to the number of three hundred were preparing to 
attack us. A Mohawk who had deserted from the Sault 
last year, the same also who had given information of the 
proposed attack against his Nation, was captured roving 
around the village. He said he came there intending to 
surrender himself to us, which it was pretended to believe. 
An eye was kept on him notwithstanding. He confirmed 
the report of the young French woman. 

"Another savage, also of the same nation * * * as- 
sured M. De Vaudreuil that the English and Mohawks had 
indeed set out to come, * * * and that the consterna- 
tion was pretty general among the one and the other. 

"This last intelligence caused M. De Vaudreuil's detach- 
ment as much regret as the first had given them joy. It 
was received with a thousand yells of satisfaction, particu- 
larly by the Abenakis, who said they had need neither of 
knives nor hatchets to beat the English ; that it was idle to 
waste powder on such a set, 

" Mons. De Vaudreuil resolved to await them^in the wood 
without shutting himself up in the fort. He left on the 9th, 
[August, 1696,] between nine and ten o'clock in the morn- 
ing, after having seen it burn and the corn entirely cut. 
He camped the same night two leagues from Onnontague. 
The celerity of his movements cannot be too much praised, 



INDIANS. 91 

since he occupied only three days in going, coming and 
executing all he had to do, although from one village to the 
other was fourteen good leagues, in the woods, with con- 
tinual mountains, and a multitude of rivers and large 
streams to be crossed. He was, therefore, not expected so 
soon, and Mons. Le Compte [Frontenac,] was agreeably 
surprised to see him return in so short a time, with thirty- 
five Oneidas, among whom were, as we have said, the prin- 
cipal Chiefs of the nation, and four of our French pris- 
oners." 

This concluded the expedition, and on the 12th, Fron- 
tenac returned to Canada via Lake Ontario, with his 
thirty-five captives, bearing the eternal hatred of the Indian 
Nations, who harassed his army on its way, and who for 
years after kept up a desultory warfare upon the French 
colony at Montreal, which did not cease until the peace 
treaty of 1700. 

On the destruction of their villages the Indians fled to 
Albany for redress. On the 29th of September, 1696, they 
met Governor Benjamin Fletcher in council at Albany. 
Some of the Indian delegates had arrived on the afternoon 
of the Sunday previous, and in the evening had supped 
with His Excellency the Governor, "with many expressions 
of joy and satisfaction they had in meeting him." They 
tarried several days in Albany as was their custom on such 
occasions. They received as presents, to build them up 
again, clothing, brass kettles, knives and other utensils, to- 
gether with tobacco, rum and ammunition, besides a con- 
siderable amount of provisions, amounting in all to the value 
of ^660. 4s. 1 1 -id. 

Before their departure they indulged in a grand flourish 
of speeches. The meeting was presided over by Gov. 
Fletcher. There were present Col. Nicholas Bayard, 
William Pinhorne, Esq., Maj. Peter Schuyler of the Com- 
mon Council, Matthew Clarkson, Secretary, and the Mayor, 
Recorder and Aldermen of Albany, &c. Dackashata, a 
Sachem of the Senecas, speaker, arose: 



92 MADISON COUNTY, 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe [The Governor] : — 

We come to condole the loss you daily 
receive, having daily alarms skulking parties of the enemy 
doing mischief." Then laid down a belt of wampum. 
" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 

I am come with the whole House to 
consider what tends to the common good of the whole 
House." 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 

We come here to quicken the fire and 
renew the covenant chain. 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 
^ We recommend to all that are in the 

covenant chain to be vigorous and keep it up. 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 

When all is said, I drink to all your 
healths and then I deliver you the cup. 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 

There has been a cloud and we come 
to remove it as the sun in the morning removes the dark- 
ness of night. 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 

The tree of safety and welfare planted 
here, we confirm it. 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 

As the tree is planted here and con- 
firmed, so we make fast all the roots and branches of it, all 
the brethren of the Five Nations, and the brethren of Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, New York, 
Connecticut and New England. 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 

We wish we may rest in quietness un- 
der that tree. We fill it with new leaves, and wish all that 
are in the Covenant Chain may have the benefit to sit down 
quiet under its shadow. * * * 

" Brother Cayenquiragoe : — 

We wish the Canoes [ships across the 
ocean] may go to and again in safety, that the Great King 
may know what we have here said, and that we may have 
an answer. We have now made our word good ; here is 
the cup." He then laid down some small bundles of leaves 



INDIANS. 93 

saying, " it is but small, but it is as it were, saved out of the 
fire." 

His Excellency stood up and said : — 

" Brethren, I have heard what you 
have said and have here renewed the Covenant Chain with 
all the Five Nations, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagoes, 
Cayugas and Senecas, in behalf of the brethren of this 
province, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, 
Connecticut and New England, and I assure the Five Na- 
tions of His Majesty's protection. I have provided you 
with some victuals and drink to drink the King's health, and in 
confirmation thereof, that it may last as long as the sun and 
moon endures, I give this belt of wampum." 

At the conclusion of this speech the principal Sachem of 
the Mohawks called — " OJiee !" The whole assembly an- 
swered — " Heeeece Hogh ! ! " 

Other speeches followed, of the same nature as the above. 
The adroit manner in which one Sachem of the Mohawks 
alluded to the neglect of the English, is shown in the fol- 
lowing extract : 

" They [the English,] liked the chain of peace, but where 
are they now ; they do not like to take part with us in the 
war. They are all asleep ; they come not to our assistance 
against the enemy ; their hands hang down straight ; their 
arms are lame. * * * We desire you to write to the 
Great King and to get us an answer against the next time 
the trees become green, and let there be no delay. Let it 
not be said to us the canoes are lost under water, or that 
the winds have carried them to another country, or the like 
excuse, but let us have the answer, against the trees grow 
green, without fail, for we are in great need of it." 

He then laid down a beaver skin. 

This mode of conducting councils and making speeches, 
so pleasing to the Indians, was adopted by Sir William 
Johnson. In one of their conferences, Sir William thus 
addresses the Oneidas : 

" Brethren of Oneida : — 

I am now to set up your stone straight, 
and rub off all moss and dirt it may have contracted this 



94 MADISON COUNTY. 

time past. My best advice is to have your Castles as near 
together as you conveniently can with the Tuscaroras, who 
belong to you as children, and the Scanihaderadigroohnes 
but lately come into your alliance or families, which makes 
it necessary for me to fix a new string to the Cradle which 
was hung up by your forefathers when they received the 
Tuscaroras, as you do now the Scanihaderadighroones to 
feed and protect." He then gave a belt. 

He was answered by a chief of the Oneidas : — 

" Brother Warraghiiyagey : — 

We thank you for clearing the Oneida 
stone and setting it up right, and shall, agreable to your 
advice, collect our people together ; also the Tuscaroras, be 
they scattered where they may, and the Scanihaderadigh- 
roones who do unite with us, a small party of whom are 
here present to hear you, and to take their share of our 
Brother, the Governor's bounty. We also return thanks for 
the new string fixed to the cradle contrived by our forefath- 
ers, to receive those new brethren we intend to nourish and 
provide for." They gave a string. 

Throughout the State Documents there is less said of 
the warlike disposition of the Oneidas than of the 
other Iroquois. They were more engaged in the peace- 
ful arts, and were more devoted to looking after weaker 
nations, taking them under their especial care, giving them 
homes, providing for their wants, &c. They thus adopted 
the Tuscaroras in 1712 ; the Stockbridges came to the home 
they had granted them, in 1783, and the Brothertons, 
emigrated a few families at a time, and settled upon the 
Oriskany Creek. 

They maintained a friendly interest for the white settle- 
ments, and abstained from taking part in the wars which 
agitated Central New York, as much as possible. 

During the French war, when Mons. De Belletre, the 
French General, made an incursion into these parts and 
destroyed the German Flats, (Nov., 1757,) Sir William John- 
son received intelligence that the Oneidas had joined the 
invaders. He immediately sent two messengers, George 



INDIANS, 95 

Croghan and Mr. Montour the interpreter, to learn why the 
Oneidas had taken such steps. His messengers learned, 
that Mons. De Belletre in his march had halted near the 
Oneida town at the Lake side, from which the Indians, in 
fear, had withdrawn their women and children ; that Mons. De 
Belletre had so intimidated them that they had begged his 
protection, and that some of the Oneidas had joined his 
expedition. The messengers repaired to the German Flats 
and there learned that the Chief Sachem of the Upper 
Oneida Town, with a Tuscarora Chief and an Oneida 
Indian, were but four miles from Fort Herkimer. They 
were sent for, to give an account of themselves. They lis- 
tened with apparent surprise and grief that their intentions 
were so misrepresented, for they disclaimed all participation 
in the massacre of German Flats. They called in several 
influential Germans who were acquainted with the horrible 
details of the massacre, and desired they would listen to the 
story they told Sir William's messengers. The Oneida 
Chief, Conaghquieson, declared that fifteen days before it 
happened, they sent the Germans word that some Swegat- 
chie Indians had told them that the French were deter- 
mined to destroy the German Flats, and desired them to be 
on their guard. " Six days after that," said the Chief, " we 
had a further account from Swegatchie, that the French 
were preparing to march, I then came down to the German 
Flats, and in a meeting with the Germans told them what 
we had heard, and desired them to collect themselves in a 
body, at their fort, and secure their women and children, and 
effects, and make the best defense they could ; and at the 
same time told them to write what I said to their brother. 
Sir William Johnson ; but they paid not the least regard, to 
what I had told them, and laughed at me, slapping their 
hands on their buttocks, saying they did not value the enemy; 
upon which I returned home and sent oneot our people to the 
lake [Oneida Lake,] to find out whether the enemy were 
coming or not ; after he had staid there two days the enemy 



96 MAIMSON" COUXrV. 

amved at the carrying place, and sent word to the Castle at 
the I-ake that they were there ; and told them what they 
wore i;oini;- to do ; but charged them not to lot us at the 
Upper Casie know anything of their design. As soon as the 
man I sent heard this, he came on to us with the account 
that night, and as soon as we recieved it we sent a belt of 
Wampum to confirm the truth thereof to the Flats, which 
came here the day before the enemy made their attack ; but 
the people w'ould not give credit to the account even then, 
or they might have saved their lives. This is the truth, 
and those Germans here present know it to be so." The 
aforesaid Germans did acknowlctige it to be so ; and that 
they had such intelligence. This statement was certified 
to by the messenger, George Croghan. 

Other authorities relate, that the Indians who brought 
this belt of wampum, finding the Germans still incredu- 
lous, the next morning just before the attack, laid hold of 
the German minister and in a manner forced him over to 
the other side of the river, by which he, and some who fol- 
lowed, escaped the fate of their brethren. 

The Oneidas maintained a neutrality thior.ghov.: this 
harassing war, holding to the interests of the English, 
chiefly through their reg-ard for the white settlei-s. It is, 
therefore, not to be wondered at that their hearts were w'ith 
the Colonists in the Revolutionary war ; but tlie British 
eiig"aged thera in the w-arfare whenever tliey could g-ain 
them. After the death of Sir William Johnson, his sons 
and sons-in-law% together w-ith John and Walter Butler and 
Joseph Brant, filled with zeal for the British cause, exerted 
their powerful influence to the utmost to win the Iroquois. 
They succeeded in enlisting many of the western r.ations. 
but the Oneidas w-ere not to be enticed from their allegi- 
ance to their neighbors and friends. Insinuating appeals 
were made, in which their Mohawk neighbors joined — 
appeals to their honor, magiianimity and tlieir love of 
freedom, but of no avail. Thev continued neuti-al imtil 



INDIANS. 



97 



\hcy rf:!_,Mi(U-(l il tlu-ir imix'r.ilivo duly lo lake up anus in 
(Icli-ncc of llicir fiicnds, against, the savage hordes of Jiutlcr 
and Hrant. 

Kov. Sanuicl Kiikland, and the groat Chief, Skenandoali, 
had ever exerted a wise infhiencc for peace, but the latter 
seeing; the emergency, gave his influence, in favor of the 
Oneidas turning to the rescue of the Colonies. 

The Oneidas rendered signal services as scouts and spies. 
There is an anecdote related concerning the siege of l^'ort 
.Slanvvix, in which these spies were very useful. Arnold, 
with his command, was aj^proaching l'\)rt Stanwix to relieve 
Col. Gansevoort. On his way he captured a notorious tory 
spy, I Ian Yost Schuyler, whom he sentenced to be hung. 
The friends of the tory applied to Arnold to spare his life, 
I le was inexorable, but was prevailed upon by Major Brooks 
lo use the tory for their advantage. The plan was, to 
allow Han Yost to escape the guard house, and his life be 
spared on condition that he should repair to the Indian and 
tory camps, in the vicinity of Fort Stanwix, and by an ex- 
aggeratetl report of Arnold's force, induce them to desert 
their leader, in sufficient numbers to cause St. Leger to 
raise the siege. If he failed, his brother, who liad consented 
to remain as a hostage, was to " grace the same noose which 
had been prepared for I Ian Yost." The commander then 
communicated the plan to the sentinel, who secretly let the 
tory out. The life of his brother held Han Yost true to his 
pledge. An Oneida embarked in the enterprise, and fol- 
lowing Han Yost at a distance, fell in with two or three 
other Oneidas of his acquaintance, who readily engaged in 
furthering his design. Han Yost was acquainted with 
many of St. Leger's Indians, and on arriving at their camp, 
told a sad story of his having been taken by the rebels and 
sentenced to be hung — how he had escaped, and showed 
them several bullet holes in his coat where he had been 
fired upon when he fled. When asked as to the number of 
men Arnold had, he shook his head mysteriously and pointed 



98 MADISON COUNTY. 

to the leaves of the trees ; and upon being further questioned, 
he said the number could not be less than ten thousand. 
This news soon spread through the camp. At this junc- 
ture the Oneida arrived, and with a belt confirmed Han 
Yost's statement. Presently, one after another of the Onei- 
das in the secret, dropping into the camp as if by accident, 
spoke of the great numbers of warriors marching against 
them. They gave the Indians to understand that the 
Americans did not wish to injure the Indians, but if they 
continued with the British they must all share one common 
fate. Alarm and consternation pervaded the whole body of 
Indians and they resolved on immediate flight. Says Jones 
in his Oneida History : " St. Leger used every effort to detain 
them in this critical juncture, but in vain. As a last resort 
he tried to get them drunk, but the dram bottle had lost 
its charms and they refused to drink. After he had failed 
in every attempt to induce them to remain, he tried to pur- 
suade them to fall in the rear and form a covering party to 
his army, but this only increased their dissatisfaction, and 
they charged him with designs of sacrificing his red allies 
to the safety of the whites. In a mixture of rage and des- 
pair, St. Leger immediately ordered the siege to be raised, 
and with his entire force of regulars, tories and Indians, he 
left in such haste as to leave his tents standing, abandoning 
all his artillery, and some accounts state that they left their 
dinners cooking over the camp fires. The Oneida Indian 
it seems had a spice of the wag in his composition, for he 
followed in the rear and occasionally raised the cry, ' They 
are coining ! they are coming ! ' for his own diversion in 
seeing the red coats take a foot race, and the retreating 
army never felt entirely safe until fairly embarked on the 
Oneida Lake. 

" Han Yost kept with St. Leger's army on the retreat 
until it arrived at the mouth of Wood Creek, when he re- 
turned to Fort Stanwix, and gave Col, Gansevoort the fir^ 
intelligence of the approach of Gen. Arnold's command. 



INDIANS. 



99 



From thence he returned to Fort Dayton, and having ful- 
filled his contract, his brother was at once discharged." 

The Oneidas were at the battle of Oriskany, where they 
lost their beloved interpreter, Thomas Spencer. They were 
at the battle of Johnstown, where Col. Walter Butler fell by 
the hands of an Oneida Chief, it is said. [By others it is 
said to have been a Mohawk Chief who killed Butler. See 
Jones' Oneida, p. 856.] 

At the conclusion of the Revolutionary war, the Ameri- 
can Congress appointed commissioners to hold conventions 
with the Indians, who arranged amicable treaties with those 
nations in regard to their rights, lands, &c. Notwithstand- 
ing that most of the nations had been hostile to the United 
States during the war, yet the policy of Congress was hu- 
mane. The resolutions of this body respecting them, were 
adopted October 15th, 1783. The following was the reso- 
lution respecting the Oneidas and Tuscaroras : — 

" Sixthly. — And whereas the Oneida and Tuscarora tribes 
have adhered to the cause of America, and joined her armies 
in the course of the late war, and Congress has frequently 
assured them of peculiar marks of favor and friendship, the 
said Commissioners are therefore instructed to reassure the 
said tribes of the friendship of the United States, and that 
they may rely that the land which they claim as their in- 
heritance will be reserved for their sole use and benefit, 
until they may think it for their advantage to dispose of 
the same." 

The Commissioners were Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler 
and Arthur Lee. A grand Council of the Six Nations was 
called at Fort Stanwix in 1784, and a treaty made, by 
which the Six Nations, except the Mohawks, had reserva- 
tions assigned them, which established the line between this 
State and the Oneidas, upon the " old line of property," as 
fixed by the treaty of 1768.* 

HOMES OF THE ONEIDAS. 

Their earliest location, according to all statements, was at 

* See page 78. 



lOO MADISON COUNTY, 

Stockbridge.. Maps, of the centuries past, trace a trail 
from Fort Schuyler to this place, which, said maps desig- 
nate with the name " Old Oneida Castle," and the trail to 
our present Oneida Castle, had also a route far to the north- 
ward of this. The present Oneida Castle is given on those 
maps as " New Oneyda Castle." From the Old Oneida 
Castle, far to the southward of the trail through Lenox, is 
traced a trail to Canaseraga, which must have passed 
through Smithfield and Fenner. The Oneidas also had a 
village at the Lake side, where they dwelt in considerable 
numbers, and where they fortified themselves. Schoolcrait 
speaks of this as the second village they inhabited, and of one 
afterwards built at Conowaloa (present Oneida Castle). 

Speaking of their first Castle — in Stockbridge — School- 
craft says : " The eminence where the Stone was located, 
was formerly a butternut grove. * * * * yj^g ancient 
town extended in a transverse valley south of this ridge of 
land, covered as it was by nut wood trees, and was com- 
pletely sheltered by it from the north winds. A copious, 
clean spring of water issued out at the spot selected for 
their wigwams. * * * * This Stone became the na- 
tional altar. * * * * When it was necessary to light 
their pipes and assemble to discuss national matters, they 
had only to ascend the hill through its richly wooded groves 
to its extreme summit, at the site of the Oneida Stone. * * 

" The Stone is a large, but not enormous boulder of sye- 
nite of the etraiic block group, and consequently geologically 
f )reign to the location. * * * * There are no rocks 
like this till we reach the Adirondacks. The White Stone 
which stood near the spring, and which has been removed 
to make a part of Mr. Francis' fence, is a carbonate of lime, 
and is not the true Oneida Stone." 

[A boulder of gneiss, which tradition identified as this 
palladium of the Oneidas, a few years since was taken from 
the farm of James H. Gregg, in the town of Stockbridge, 
and placed in a prominent position near the entrance of the 



INDIANS, lOI 

Utica Cemetery, on the Bridgewater Plank road, about a 
mile south of Utica.] 

The Oneidas affirm that they sprung from the Stone. 
At the time the Oneidas came to fix their location at the 
Stone, the Konoshioni had not confederated. At the time 
of the confederation, the delegate from the Oneidas was 
Osaischechte. He lived at the Stone. 

Although trees have grown upon the ancient settlement, 
yet a few years since the cornhills could be distinctly seen. 
This is accounted for, by the fact that in ancient times the 
cornhills were made so large, that three clusters of stalks, or 
sub-hills, were raised on each circle or hill. There being no 
plough or other general means of turning up the earth, the 
same hill was used year after year, and thus its outlines 
became large and well defined. 

One individual, writing to Schoolcraft, states that " the 
syenite stone on the hill was the true Oneida Stone, and 
not the White Stone at the spring [as many have claimed].; 
was so pronounced by Moses Schuyler, son of Hon Yost, 
who knew it forty years ago, [written in 1846,] that the 
elevation gave a view of the whole valley, so that they 
could descry their enemies at a distance by the smoke of 
their fires ; no smoke, he said, without fire. They could 
notify also from this elevation by a beacon fire. The name 
of the Stone is One-a-ta ; auk, added to render it personal, 
— people of the Stone." 

Joncaire, a French writer before the middle of the 
eighteenth century, says, that "the Oneidas who are neigh- 
bors to the Mohawks, are one hundred warriors, and whose 
village has the device of a stone in the forks of a tree, or a 
tree notched with some blows of an ax." 

The following account of the ancient council ground of 
the Oneidas was taken in 1845, from the lips of an aged 
person, Mrs. Daniel Warren, one of the pioneers of that 
vicinity. We give it from the manuscript, word for word, 
as the writer penned it at that date. 



102 madison county, 

October 2, 1845. 
"Forty years ago the hill known as ' Primes Hill,' and 
celebrated as the great council ground of the ' Six Na- 
tions,' was covered with a dense wilderness, save a small 
spot on the summit, comprising an area of about an half 
acre, and in shape a complete circle, bordered all around 
with a thick growth of shrubs, consisting of alders, wild 
plums and hazels. On the east was a narrow place of en- 
trance of barely sufficient width to admit two persons 
abreas":. Not far from this entrance place, and within the 
area, was a circle of earth of some 20 feet in diameter, which 
was raised about two feet above the general level, and cov- 
ered over with fine coals — ^having the appearance of a coal- 
pit bottom of the present day. The remainder of this oasis 
in the wilderness was overgrown in summer with wild grass, 
wild flowers and weeds, and appeared as if a tree had never 
encumbered it since the dawn of creation. When, or by 
whom this spot was cleared, is not known, nor will it ever 
be known. In all probability hundreds of years have rolled 
over it and found it the same, save that different races have 
been born and swept away successively around the same spot. 
The face of the earth around, indeed, indicates that it has 
once been peopled with a race considerably advanced in 
civilization. Within a radius of three miles from this spot, 
are found graves, with trees growing over them, so that the 
roots spread from the head to the foot. A great many of 
these graves were some years since excavated, and found 
to contain various bones, and in some cases entire skele- 
tons of a people of giant proportions, the skulls and jaw- 
bones of which would cover the head and face of the most 
fleshy person of our day. In these graves were also found 
hatchets of very symmetrical shape, brass vessels somewhat 
in the form of our brass kettles, smoking pipes of various 
shapes, small metal bells, beads of all shapes and sizes, and 
various other articles of use and ornament, some of them 
bearing letters, characters, or devices in an unknown lan- 
guage. The trees found growing upon these ancient graves 
count from two to four hundred grains — making (according 
to the usual way of reckoning the age of trees) the same 
number of years. Not many years since a skull was dug 
up which contained a bullet of common size ; the skull bone 
was a sound one, and had a hole in it of the size of the ball. 
From this, and other like circumstances, it is inferred that 



INDIANS. 103 

this race, or those who made war upon them, knew the use 
of fire-arms. There is no one among the oldest of the In- 
dians who are now or have been residents anywhere in this 
region of country, who can give any traditionary account 
reaching so far back as to tell the fate of these people. Such 
traditions as we do get come orally, and go no further back 
than about one hundred years, though there is a tradition, 
that a long time ago there was a very destructive war waged 
between some tribes in this section of country and those of 
Canada. A great battle was fought between them upon 
this very ground, and with such fury and determination on 
both sides, that each were nearly all slaughtered. So runs 
iJie tradition^ 

The writer goes on further to say of his own personal 
view of the spot at that date (1845), and the thoughts sug- 
gested thereby : 

" I passed over * Primes Hill ' on my way home, and 
paused upon the spot to let my thoughts dwell for a 
moment upon scenes that had been in years long since 
past, upon the very earth I trod. It seemed like holy 
ground ! Here was the ' Council Rock,' which had often 
been the seat of the head Chief in grand council, when the 
ancient trees of the forest spread their sheltering arms over 
it, and the free, unsophisticated Indians were the only pos- 
sessors of the soil it stood on ; and yonder, and all around 
in every direction, were the graves of an unknown race, 
with the bones of their aboriginal successors mingling with 
theirs in one common dust ! But the magic hand of civil- 
ized man has waved over the sacred spot — the wilderness 
has disappeared, and the plough of the farmer has traced 
and retraced over it for years — but Nature yet claims her 
own in many respects ; the lofty hill still lifts its proud sum- 
mit far above any around it, and * Council Rock ' yet bares 
its iron bosom to the blasts of winter, and remains un- 
scathed. 

With the help of a stone as heavy as I could swing with 
both hands, I succeeded in crumbling off a few small pieces 
from this natural monument of other days, for the purpose 
of carrying them home to keep as curiosities. I then sat 
myself down a few feet from it, and took out my pencil, and 
on a blank leaf of a volume of ' Rollins' Ancient History,' 
which I happened to have in my pocket, I sketched the 



I04 MADISON COUNTV, 

Rock and the scenery about it, with a piece of woods and 
the little village of Durhamville in the distance. Whilst 
I was doing this, wife had the kindness to keep the sun- 
shine off my work with her bonnet. We then proceeded 
a few rods south, and crossed a piece of ground where are 
yet found a great variety of old Indian ornaments, such as 
have been mentioned. These are turned up by the plough 
every time it passes over it — and as the ground had lately 
been ploughed we succeeded in finding several little relics 
to bring away with us." 

This hill and these famous grounds, here so graphically 
described, were some years since owned by the Gregg and 
Francis families. 

There is a burial ground about a mile southeast of 
Munnsville, on the hillside. In excavations here, iron and 
steel axes, gun barrels and fragments of gun locks, brass 
kettles, and a small bone image of a woman, have been 
found. The axes are hatchet shaped, and marked under 
the eyes with three stars. 

After the destruction of the Oneida village (Canawaloa) 
by Mons. De Vaudreuil, in 1696, they rebuilt at the same 
place. This is the present Oneida Castle, situated on 
Oneida Creek, in Vernon and Lenox, of Oneida and Madison 
counties. When the Tuscaroras came they placed some of 
them at the old Oneida Castle in Stockbridge, where the 
latter set out an orchard which had many trees standing 
and bearing Iruit, when the first settlers came to this 
country. The Oneidas also had a village at Canaseraga, 
where many Tuscaroras also settled, and they had another 
village on the Susquehanna, the inhabitants of which, how- 
ever, they gathered home when the Revolutionary war broke 
out. After the country was at peace, settlers who came in 
were witnesses to the frequent migrations of the Indians to 
the Susquehanna, for the purpose of hunting and fishing. 
Sir William Johnson speaks of building forts in 1756, in 
the Oneida Castle, also at Onondaga, Seneca and Sco- 



INDIANS. 105 

harie.* Whether they were built, and if so, when they were 
destroyed, we have no data to inform us. 

Schoolcraft describes the ruins of a fort which he dis- 
covered in Lenox, Madison County, in the neighborhood of 
the " Lenox Furnace." It was situated within the junction 
of two branches of a stream. He describes the indication 
of a picketed work and excavations, which he says " are 
now but mere indentations." Mons. De Belletre, in 1757, 
who came in to the country with, his detachment of 300 
men, says the route from Canaseraga " goes to the Great 
Oneida village. A picket fort with four bastions was once 
constructed in this village by the English. It was de- 
stroyed by the Oneidas in observance of promises given to 
De Vaudreuil. Each of its sides might have been 100 
paces. There is a second Oneida village, called the little 
village, situated on the bank of the lake. There is no fort 
in the latter. From this large village is a path to Forts 
Bull and William, also one to Fort Kouari, which can be 
traveled without being obliged to pass the said two forts." 

The traversing armies of the ancient time used oftener 
to go by water than otherwise. In coming from the west- 
ward they came up the Oswego River into Oneida Lake ; 
from the lake they entered Vilcrick (Wood Creek) and as- 
cended to Fort Bull. From this Fort there is a carrying 
place across the height of land to Fort William, [Rome,] 
about one league and a quarter, from where the boats 
take the Mohawk River. 

After this country was open for white settlements, Capt. 
Charles Williamson, a traveler through there, in 1792, thus 

*Among Sir William's papers is found a memorandum which is supposed to be 
the plan of his forts, viz : 

" 100 ft square the stockads P. or Ok 15 ft long 3 of wch at least to be sunk in 
the ground well pounded & rammed & ye 2 touching sides square so as to lay close. 
Loop holes to be made 4 ft dist ; 2 Bl H'ses 20 ft sq. below and above to project 
I 1-2 foot over ye Beams well roofed & shingled and a good sentry Box on the top 
of each, a good Gate of 3 Inc oak PI. & iron hinges & a small Gate of Oak Plank 
of same thick's Endorsed 

Fort Johnson May 28th, 1756." 



lO 


miles. 


6 




6 




II 




12 




lO 


« " 



I06 MADISON COUNTY. 

remarks on the route, and the taverns and distances 
between them, from Fort Schuyler to Onondaga Hollow : — 

" From Fort Schuyler to Lairds on the Great Genesee 

Road, _ _ _ _ 

" Lairds to Van Epps near Oneida Reservation, 
"Van Epps to Wemps on Oneida Reservation, 
" Wemps to Sills at the Deep Spring, 
" Sills to Keelers Junior, 
" Keelers to Tylers Onondaga Hollow, 

The Flats of Canaseraga were cleared, and Louis Dennie 
was the head Chief of the village. Deep Spring, always 
famous on this road, was regarded by the Iroquois as the 
location of the eastern door of the Onondagas. The 
peculiarity of this spring is, that it comes out of the ground 
and a few rods farther on goes into the hill again. It is 
surrounded on all sides by trees carved with the initials of 
visitors. 

MISSIONS. 

The Missions among the Oneidas, after the Jesuits, were 
not for a century perhaps very successful. In 1712, Rev. 
William Andrews was appointed missionary among the 
Mohawks and Oneidas, and after a residence of six 
years among the Mohawks, visiting the Oneidas often, he 
became discouraged and asked to be recalled, saying " there 
is no hope of making them better — heathen they are and 
heathen they still must be." Rev. Mr. Barclay, Rev. Mr. 
Andrews, Rev. Mr. Ogilvie, and Rev. Gideon Hawley from 
Stockbridge, Mass., were missionaries to these nations, 
visiting the Oneidas occasionally. 

In 1753, Rev. Mr. Hawley, Deacon Timothy Woodbridge, 
and Rev. Mr. Ashley and wife, the latter a remarkable in- 
terpreter, went to Oquago to re-establish the mission there, 
where they arrived after many hardships and troubles. 
Mrs. Hawley laid her bones at Onohoghgwaga in August, 
1757. She was much lamented by the Indians, many of 
whom were Oneidas. Her Indian name was Wausaunia. 



INDIANS. 



107 



Rev. Samuel Kirkland, commenced his missionary la- 
bors among the Oneidas in 1766, with whom he Hved and 
labored many years and with great success. He was the 
son of Rev. Daniel Kirkland, of Norwich, Connecticut, and 
was born December ist, 1741. He was the tenth child of 
a family of twelve children. At the age of twenty-three he 
undertook a mission to the Senecas, and spent two years 
among them. Returning to his native country a short 
time he was commissioned to the work among the Oneidas. 
In the summer of 1769, he again went to Connecticut and 
there married Jerusha Bingham, an excellent woman, " well 
fitted by her good sense and devout heart to become the 
wife of a missionary." He soon returned to his post, ac- 
companied by his wife, and the two shared the cares, trials 
and labors in their chosen field. They felt repaid in the 
consciousness of having accomplished some good, when 
they saw the progress of the nation in acquiring the habits, 
arts and Christianity of civilized life. Mr. Kirkland's in- 
fluence was remarkable among the Oneidas, and his counsel 
was sought in every emergency. Upon the breaking out 
of the Revolutionary war, his influence, chiefly, deterred the 
Oneidas from taking part with the British. He was obliged 
to remove his family from the Castle, but he continued 
his labors among them. During a portion of the war he 
officiated as chaplain to the American forces in the vicinity ; 
he also accompanied the expedition of Gen. Sullivan in 1779, 
through the western part of the State. 

Mr. Kirkland received a present from the Oneidas of a 
tract of land, and the State of New York in consideration 
of valuable services during the war, granted him also an ad- 
ditional tract, lying in the town of Kirkland, known as 
" Kirkland's Patent," upon a portion of which Hamilton 
College stands. To these lands he removed his family in 
1792, and fixed his residence near the village of Clinton, 
where he continued till his death, March 28th, 1808, in the 
67th year of his age. 



I08 MADISON COUNTY. 

Mr. Kirkland's labors among the Oneidas were in many 
instances attended with happy results ; a large portion of 
the nation espoused the Christian religion while he was 
with them, among whom was the Great Chief, Skenandoah. 
Through the influence of the Christian faith he taught, in 
time the whole nation gave up their pagan ceremonies and 
professed themselves Christians. About 1791, Mr. Kirk- 
land conceived the project of establishing a seminary for the 
education of Indian youths, as well as the whites. Through 
his exertions a charter was obtained in 1793 for the school 
he had planted, and it bore the name of " Hamilton Oneida 
Academy." In 1794, a building was erected which for 
many years afterwards continued to be known as " Oneida 
Hall," till the seminary was raised to the rank of a college. 
Mr. Kirkland was a generous benefactor of this institution, 
and expended much of his time and means in promoting its 
interests. 

Skenandoah. — " But the name which stands more prom- 
inently upon the page of history, and which will be remem- 
bered until the original inhabitants of this continent are 
forgotten, is that of Skenandoah, ' the white man's friend.' 
He was born about the year 1706, but of his younger days 
little or nothing is known. It has been stated, but upon 
what authority the writer does not know, that he was not 
an Oneida by birth, but was a native of a tribe living a 
long distance to the northwest, and was adopted by the 
Oneidas when a young man. * * * in his youth and 
early manhood, Skenandoah was very savage and intem- 
perate. In 1755, while attending upon a treaty in Albany, 
he became excessively drunk at night, and in the morning 
found himself divested of all his ornaments and clothing. 
His pride revolting at his self-degradation, he resolved 
never again to place himself under the power of fire zuaier, a 
resolution which it is believed he kept to the end of his life. 
In appearance he was noble, dignified and commanding, be- 
ing in height much over six feet, and the tallest Indian in 
his nation. He possessed a powerful frame, for at the age of 
eighty-five he was a full match for any member of his tribe, 
either as to strength, or speed on foot ; his powers of endu- 



INDIANS. 109 

ranee were equal to his size and physical power. But it 
was to his eloquence and mental powers, he owed his repu- 
tation and influence. His person was tattoed, or marked in 
a peculiar manner. There were nine lines arranged by- 
threes extending downward from each shoulder, and meet- 
ing upon the chest, made by introducing some dark color- 
ing matter under the skin. He was, in his riper years, one 
of the noblest counsellors among the North American 
tribes ; he possessed a vigorous mind, and was alike saga- 
cious, active, and persevering. As an enemy he was 
terrible — as a friend and ally he was mild and gentle in his 
disposition, and faithful to his engagements. His vigilance, 
once preserved from massacre the inhabitants of the little 
settlement of German Flats ; and in the revolutionary war 
his influence induced the Oneidas to take up arms in favor 
of the Americans. Soon after Mr. Kirkland established 
his mission at Oneida, Skenandoah embraced the doctrines 
of the Gospel, and for the rest of his life he lived a consist- 
ent Christian. He often repeated the wish that he might 
be buried by the side of his old teacher and spiritual father, 
that he might 'go up with him at the great resurrection ;' 
and several times in the latter years of his life he made the 
journey frjm Oneida to Clinton, hoping to die there. 
Although he could speak but little English, and in his 
extreme old age was blind, yet his company was sought. 
In conversation he was highly decorous, evincing that he 
had profited by seeing civilized and polished society in his 
better days. He evinced constant care not to give pain by 
any remark or reply. * * * To a friend who called 
upon him a short time before his decease, he thus expressed 
himself by an interpreter : ' I am an aged hemlock ; the winds 
of an hundred winters have whistled through my branches ; 
I am dead at the top. The generation to which I belonged 
has run away and left me ; why I live the Great Good 
Spirit only knows ; pray to my Jesus that I may have 
patience to wait for my appointed time to die.' * * * 

"After listening to the prayers read at his bedside by his 
great-grand-daughter, Skenandoah yielded up his spirit on 
the nth day of March, 18 16, aged about one hundred and 
ten years. Agreeably to a promise made by the family ol 
Mr. Kirkland, his remains were brought to Clinton, and 
buried by the side of his spiritual father. Services were 
attended in the Congregational meeting house in Clinton, 



no MADISON COUNTY. 

and an address was made to the Indians by Dr. Backus, 
President of Hamilton College, interpreted by Judge Dean, 
and after prayer, and singing appropriate psalms, the corpse 
was carried to the grave preceded by the students of the 
College, and followed in order by the Indians, Mr. Kirk- 
land and family. Judge Dean, Rev. Dr. Norton, Rev. Mr. 
Ayres, Officers of the College and Citizens. 

" Skenandoah was buried in the garden of Mr. Kirkland, 
a short distance south of the road leading up to the College. 
A handsome monument stands in the College burying 
ground, with the following inscription : — 

" ' Skenandoa. This Monument is erected by the North- 
ern Missionary Society, in testimony of their respect for 
the memory of Skenandoa, who died in peace and hope of 
the Gospel, on the nth of March, 1816. Wise, eloquent 
and brave, he long swayed the Councils of his Tribe, whose 
confidence and affection he eminently enjoyed. In the war 
which placed the Canadas under Great Britain, he was actively 
engaged against the French ; in that of the Revolution, he 
espoused that of the Colonies, and ever afterwards remained 
a firm friend to the United States. Under the ministry of 
Rev Mr. Kirkland he embraced the doctrines of the Gos- 
pel ; and having exhibited their power in a long life, 
adorned by every Christian virtue, he fell asleep in Jesus at 
the advanced age of 100 years.' " * 

James Dean, was a famous interpreter among the 
Oneidas. He was born in Groton, Conn., in 1748. He 
was educated for a missionary among the Indians, and 
while very young was sent among them at Oquago, to learn 
their language. He was adopted into an Indian family, 
and to his Indian mother he always manifested an ardent 
attachment. He learned to speak their language more 
perfectly than any other white man known. The Oneidas 
said he was the only white person whom they had ever 
known, who could speak their language so perfectly that they 
could not at once detect him, if hid from view. He was a 
graduate of Dartmouth College, in its first class. In 1774, 

*The above sketch, from Jones' Oneida we copy nearly entire. The author 
has seen no version of the story of this Great Chief's life so full and interesting as 
this. 



INDIANS. Ill 

he was sent among the natives to learn their views toward 
the Colonists, and proved himself to be a valuable person 
in the work assigned him. He was retained in public ser- 
vice at the commencement of the Revolution, with the rank 
of Major in the Staff, as agent for Indian affairs and inter- 
preter, being stationed most of the time at Fort Stanwix 
and Oneida Castle. Ever after the war Mr. Dean enjoyed 
the confidence of the Oneidas. For his services the Onei- 
das gave him a tract of land two miles square, which was 
located upon the north side of Wood Creek, in the present 
town of Vienna. This was known a few years since as 
" Dean's Place." The selection proved to be an unfortunate 
one on account of inundations, and it was given up, the 
Indians agreeing to change his location to any place he 
desired. He selected it in the present town of Westmore- 
land, since known as " Dean's Patent." He settled upon 
this in 1786. Jones, in his Oneida County History, gives 
some thrilling and deeply interesting incidents concerning 
Judge Dean and his Indian friends ; one, in which an 
Indian woman saved his life, as Pocahontas did that of 
Capt. John Smith, which richly repays perusal. 

Judge Dean was for many years one of the Judges of 
Oneida Common Pleas, and was twice member of the Leg- 
islature. He honored every position he was called to fill. 
He was a good scholar, and as a writer, his style was beau- 
tiful and chaste. He wrote a lengthy essay upon Indian 
mythology. The manuscript was lent to President Dwight, 
but never returned. 

EPISCOPAL MISSION. 

In i8i6,Bishop Hobartofthe Protestant Episcopal Church, 
established a mission at Oneida Castle and placed Rev. 
Eleazer Williams in charge. The latter was the reputed son 
of Thomas Williams, a distinguished Chief of the Mohawk 
branch of the St. Regis tribe, and was a descendant of the 
Rev. John Williams, who, with his family and parishoners, 
were taken captives by the Indians at Deerfield, Mass., in 



112 MADISON COUNTY. 

1704. Mr. Eleazer Williams was liberally educated for the 
purpose of being useful to his people, and was placed at 
Oneida as a lay-reader, catechist and school teacher. [Rev. 
Eleazer Williams is the person about whom there was at 
one time considerable speculation as to his being heir to the 
throne of France. It was said, and an endeavor was made 
to prove that he was the lost Dauphin, the son of Louis 
XVII, whose fate had been enshrouded in mystery. The 
efforts made, and evidence brought forward, created no 
small stir in certain circles, which was but temporary, sub- 
siding as soon as the romance of the affair had died away.] 
So great was Mr. Williams' success, that a large portion of the 
Oneidas who had hitherto been known as the Pagan Party, 
embraced the Christian faith, and on the 25th of January, 
18 17, sent an address to Governor DeWitt Clinton, request- 
ing to be henceforth known as the Second Christiati Party 
of the Oneida Nation. The address was adopted in council, 
and signed by eleven chiefs and head- men. Bishop Hobart 
visited the mission, and confirmed in all five hundred In- 
dians. In 18 18, the Second Christian Party sold a piece of 
land to enable them to erect a chapel. It was consecrated 
by Bishop Hobart, September 21, 18 19, by the title of St. 
Peter's Church. Mr. Solomon Davis succeeded Mr. Wil- 
liams in 1822, the latter having removed to Green Bay with 
a portion of the Oneida nation. Mr. Davis subsequently 
removed to Green Bay with another portion of the nation. 
In 1840 the meeting house was removed to Vernon. 

THE METHODIST MISSION. 

In 1829, a Mission Church was formed among the Onei- 
das, consisting of about twenty-four members. Rev. Dan 
Barnes originated the mission. Previous to this the Oneidas 
belonged to the Presbyterian and Episcopal missions. 
They had been converted from Paganism to a belief in 
Christianity, but their morals had been sadly neglected, and 
intemperance and all the evils attendant, was fast demoral- 
izing the race. 



INDIANS. 113 

After the Methodist Mission Church was formed, they 
were supplied with missionaries from among their own 
race, — Indians who had been educated for this purpose. 
William and John Doxtater, Indian preachers from Canada, 
served for a time. The Rev. Dan Barnes, their first 
white preacher, then came and located among them for 
about three years. During his mission a revival of great 
power pervaded the Indian settlements. The Orchard 
Party (which included the present Windfall Party), the First 
and Second Christian Parties, all united in this revival. It. 
was witnessed by white people who had never seen any- 
thing like it before, for its power and remarkable religious 
manifestations. One who recollects the scenes of their 
nightly meetings (that continued for months), where the 
Holy Spirit slew its hundreds, where the Indians' impas- 
sioned feelings found vent only through their imperfect lan- 
guage, and in their melodious rendering of the few hymns 
they knew, thus remarks : " The effect produced was 
a strange one to the wondering looker on, and the scene 
was impressive if not affecting ; half a dozen females 
could be seen, at once, rocking to and fro, the ardor of 
their religious feelings amounting to intoxication, when 
presently they were prostrated with the power ; half 
a dozen more could be seen at the same moment, entering 
into the same state, and as many more recovering from this 
temporary trance." Such rejoicing and wild praises as went 
up to the Throne of Heaven, was never known before. The 
Indians were happy in an altogether new-found religion. 
" Such shouting, such slapping of hands, such praising 
God !" says Cornelius, when conversing of this remarkable 
period in their history ; and adding, with enthusiasm kind- 
ling his eye, " I tell you, nothing like Methodist ! They 
drink no more, then ; all sober ; in every house singing or 
praying ; at logging bees they sing, then pray, then go to 
work — all day praising God." It was a happy time, for they 
had never since their nation had become reduced, been so 

H 



114 MADISON COUNTY. 

wholly united as now. In a council held by the chiefs, viz : 
Jacob Cornelius, William Cornelius, William Day and Moses 
Cornelius, with the head Chief of the Six Nations, Moses 
Schuyler — all the Oneidas, including the First and Second 
Christian Parties and the Orchard Party, were, by their 
own desires, and by the counsel and acquiescence of these 
Chiefs, constituted members of the M. E. Church. A few 
years subsequently, the same Chiefs, in solemn council, 
appointed two ministers from among their own race, to 
preach the Gospel. Thomas Cornelius and his brother 
John Cornelius, were thus made Methodist exhorters, who 
were under the supervision of the M. E. Church, Subse- 
quently, other exhorters were raised up among them, viz : 
David Johnson, then Isaac Johnson, and next Thomas 
Bread. 

At the Orchard, the first Methodist Mission House was 
built. This orchard is an old and very large one, situated 
in the southwest corner of Vernon. It was set out by the 
Indians long before the arrival of the first white settler, it 
being apparently an old orchard in 1 794. As it was a famous 
locality, the Indian tribes living in this vicinity were de- 
nominated the " Orchard Party." The house of worship 
built here, was sold with the land, by the company of Indi- 
ans who emigrated to Green Bay in 1833. Those remaining 
were much opposed to having the mission house sold, and 
made efforts to have it reserved, which, however, were of no 
avail. Another house was soon erected near their burying 
ground, which is also in the southwest part of Vernon. This 
is yet called the Orchard Church, as the families who reside 
about it are of the Orchard people. 

About the same time, the Windfall Party built another 
house of worship. This is situated in the town of Lenox, 
about three miles south of Oneida Castle, on the west road 
leading to Knoxville. Their churches now being in the 
care of the M. E. Conference, are never more to be sold 
from them, for which the Indians are heartily glad. 



INDIANS. 



115 



Before so many had emigrated, the church society was 
very large, numbering hundreds ; it is now comparatively 
small, though most of the natives are professing Christians, 
and many are very devout. The pastor stationed at 
Bennetts Corners M. E. Church, (white) has the care of the 
Indian Mission, and preaches at the Orchard, at the 
Windfall House, and also at the Bennetts Corners Church. 
Rev. Mr. Wadsworth was pastor at one time. Rev. George 
W. Smith, who is with them now, has been with them ten 
years this Conference year. The Indians are greatly 
attached to him, and rely upon him as their counselor in 
all matters. In councils of their own race, they regard 
his presence as indispensable. There are among them- 
selves two head men — not Chiefs, they say, as that office 
ceased to be of use, when they no longer held lands in 
common. These head men. Rev. Thomas Cornelius and 
Daniel Skenandoah, are counselors in Indian matters. 
They are always made their deputies in public matters, 
to take care of the interests of their race. 

Daniel Skenandoah, a great-grandson of the noted 
Chief, lives here in the neighborhood of the Windfall 
Church. He has a noble, well cultivated farm, a good 
dwelling, its interior arranged as his white neighbors have 
theirs — books, pictures, a large melodeon, &c., &c. Mrs. 
Skenandoah, is a fair woman, and dresses and appears like 
white people. The sons and daughters are active, 
intelligent and high spirited. Two of the daughters attend 
the Cazenovia Seminary. Daniel Skenandoah was sixty 
years old in Aprd, 1872. He is a man of great physical 
strength and endurance, and in intelligence will compete 
with any of the white men around him. He has good 
practical judgment, sound common sense, and a keen eye 
to business. 

Rev. Thomas Cornelius has also a handsome and very 
productive farm, and a good, white farm cottage, situated in 
the same neighborhood. Thomas Cornelius was born at 



Il6 MADISON COUNTY. 

the Orchard, and belonged to that party. He was con- 
verted under the ministration of Rev. Mr. Barnes, joined 
the M. E. Church, and has remained a devoted Christian 
ever since. He was made a local preacher, as before stated, 
and subsequently was ordained Elder. His influence is 
great among his people ; he is verily an apostle to his race, 
lifting the erring out of their degradation, teaching them as 
none but an Indian can, the blessed way of righteousness, 
he, himself hath found. He is respected and loved by his 
white neighbors, for his noble heart, his great integrity, and 
his devotion to all that is good and Christ-like. His Chris- 
tianity beams in his countenance, and pervades his whole 
manner. In person he is very tall, well proportioned and 
erect. He has a pleasant, brown eye, an expressive coun- 
tenance, and his motions and manners, are very graceful. He 
had some advantages in youth — was a student at Cazenovia 
Seminary for a time, where he readily acquired accomplish- 
ments. His remarkable physical presence, which his size, 
dignity and grace make up, together with his noble Christian 
spirit, impresses one with a sense of his magnificent 
individuality. And yet he has no haughty pride ; his kind- 
ness of heart and gentleness are proverbial. He was sixty 
years old the 20th day of March, 1872. He has a family of 
well developed children, and still lives with the wife of his 
youth. 



The Indians own farms all along the Oneida valley, from 
Oneida Castle southward tc the old tavern called " Five 
Chimneys," though many white people own farms in among 
them. They live on terms of friendliness with their white 
neighbors. Many of their farms are as valuable and well 
cultivated as are those of any civilized people, and there are 
some good farm houses. Isaac Webster is a good farmer. 
He is a man of good sense and is quite prominent among 
them. 



INDIANS. 117 

The oldest man in the settlement is Antone, (believed to 
be a brother of Abram Antone) who is said, by good au- 
thority, to be one hundred years old. Dr. John Denny 
alias " Sundown," was formerly an interpreter, as was also 
Peter Doxtater. Aaron Antone, a grandson of Abram, 
lives at the settlement. 

The Indians in the mission are devout Christians, atten- 
tive to all the means of grace, and to the observance of the 
Sabbath, even excelling many white Christians in this re- 
spect. The great hindrance to their spiritual progress is 
intemperance. They have some superstitions yet lingering 
among them ; their customs in doctoring the sick are not 
yet eradicated, and there is still a belief in witches in the 
minds of many. Jones, in his History of Oneida County, 
says : "About 1805 occurred the last execution at Oneida 
for witchcraft. Two women suffered for this supposed 
crime. Hon Yost, an Indian somewhat noted in the Revo- 
lution, was chosen executioner, and he entered their lodge 
and tomahawked them according to the decree of a courtcil. 
Luke Hitchcock, Esq., then a lad, was present at the exe- 
cution." 

The whole charge, now in Mr. Smith's pastoral care, is 
denominated " Bennetts Corners and Oneida Indian Mis- 
sion." The white M. E. Society at Bennett's Corners was 
formed about twenty-five years ago, and their house of wor- 
ship, pleasantly situated on the old Oneida turnpike, in full 
view from the Midland Station there, was soon afterwards 
built. It was then called Pine Bush Station (so named 
from the remarkable great pines which once grew in this 
valley). The charge presented at first an uninviting pros- 
pect, but during the past ten years, under Mr. Smith's care, 
the whole charge has rapidly improved. The white church 
has now about sixty-five members. The Rev. Mr. Smith 
lives in a white cottage close by the church — a quiet coun- 
try situation — but with plenty of work for the pastor in 
looking to the spiritual needs of his peculiar parishioners. 



nS MADISON COUNTi". 

There are at Green Bay about fifteen hundred Oneidas, 
the last remove firom here being in 1S44, when the Reser- 
vation was broken up at Oneida. There are about two 
hundred now in the Oneida Mission. They have two 
schools, one at the Orchard, and one at the Windfall settle- 
ment. Their progress in education is somewhat hindered, 
by the Indians speaking almost exclusively their native 
language in their families. Great care has been exercised 
to obtain the best of teachers. If they would more willingly 
accept the benefits of civilization, and eschew its evils, par- 
ticularly intemperance, theirs might be a happier lot. They 
are not nevessan'/r under the doom of extinction, for they are 
physically a healthy race, and increase as rapidly as any. 
The imf ending doom is brought about by the ci'iis of civil- 
ization. It is believed that if they should intermarry with 
the white race, their color, in a few generations, would dis- 
appear. 

It is proposed that the new Oneida Cemetery- have a 
burial place for the Oneidas, and that there be a monument 
erected to perpetuate their memor}'. upon which shall be 
inscribed the names of their greatest Chiefs, from the first, 
down to that of Moses Schuyler, the last head Sachem. It 
is a tribute justly due them from the people who now cul- 
ti\-ate the lands which were theirs, and Uve in villages on 
their hunting grounds. 

The Oxeida Reservation ^^•as originally a \-ast domain 
held in common, where all enjoyed equal privileges, and 
lived after the primitive style. As the Indians became sur- 
rounded by white settlers, they became easily induced by 
payments of money and annuities, to sell their resen-ation 
and tr)- the ciWlized mode of culti\-ating farms, or to remove 
te a fireer, wider range, if their tastes did not incline to civ- 
ilized life. 

Therefore, by treaty in 178S, they ceded to the State of 
New York, the \'ast domain of about seven million acres of 
land, reserving to themselves and their posterity forever. 



INDIANS. 119 

" the free right" of hunting in all the woodlands, and fishing 
in all the streams of that extensive territory. 

Thus did they endeavor to preserve for ever their hunt- 
ing grounds, as sacred to them and their posterity to the 
remotest period. 

But civilization has leveled the forests, and covered the 
streams with mills and dams, effectually destroying the 
privileges thus looked upon by those "Children of Nature," 
as precious in prospect. 

During this winter past, (1872,) an application has been 
made to the State by the remnant few of the tribe, for 
some equivalent, by way of compensation, for that which has 
been lost by the deprivation of the privilege thus reserved, 
of hunting and fishing, as a last act of justice to a nation all 
but faded away. 

Judge Thomas Barlow, of Canastota, Madison County, 
made the application, and spoke for the Indians before the 
authorities at Albany. 

The great body of the Oneidas, removed to Green Bay at 
different periods, between 1822 and 1833, ^^^ small parties 
havejemigrated since. By report of the U. S. Indian Agent 
in 1849, the Oneidas at Green Bay were in a prosperous 
condition. 

In 1845, there were upon the Oneida Reservation, in all, 
thirty-one families of Oneidas — seventy-one males and 
eighty-six females ; total one hundred and fifty-seven ; be- 
sides one Delaware, one Mohawk, one St. Regis, and four 
Stockbridges. Of these, one hundred and thirty-three were 
still professed Pagans, the remainder attending upon the 
Methodist Mission. They then owned four hundred and 
twenty-one acres of land tolerably improved. Several of 
the Indians lived in frame houses, some of which were 
painted. 

There were two Indian schools in the reservation, in 
which are employed teachers, about thirty-two weeks in the 
year 



I20 MADISON COUNTY. 

Nathaniel T. Strong, an educated Seneca, who was em- 
ployed by Government to take the Indian census in 1855, 
makes the following remarks on the condition of the Indians 
throughout the State, which may not be inappropriately 
added here : 

" The subject of the reclamation of the Red man is one 
of deep and absorbing interest. There are now four thou- 
sand members of the Six Nations residing in the State of 
New York. In many respects they have become assimi- 
lated to the dense white population which surrounds them. 
Necessity has compelled them to resign the arrow and the 
spear for the plow, and the fertile soil now yields that sus- 
tenance which they but recently sought in the pathless 
forests and prolific streams. Reluctantly diverted from the 
exciting chase and perilous war-path, the mind of the young 
warrior now seeks another aliment, is quickened by new as- 
pirations. He sees a new field opened before him, with 
pressing inducements to enter and emulate his white breth- 
ren, in the friendly contest for the triumphs of industry and 
civilization. Hereditary pride, the prejudice of complexion, 
and, it may be, the remembrance of past indignities and 
wrongs, may have hitherto prevented him from relaxing his 
tenacious grasp on the customs and memories of his fathers, 
and initiating himself into a new and better life. But a 
change has been gradually wrought in his condition and 
mode of life and habits of thought. * * * * it is con- 
ceded that there are but two means of rescuing the Indian 
from his impending destiny, these are education and Chris- 
tianity." 

Mr. Strong mentions the large sums of money expended 
for the' benefit of the Red men, but it is his opinion 
that much of it has been used injudiciously. He con- 
cludes his remarks by recommending to the government 
that this sacred trust be placed in the hands of the mission- 
aries, who, he believes, will exert their self-denying efforts 
for the elevation and redemption of this almost friendless 
race. 

THE BROTHERTOWN INDIANS, 

were adopted into the Oneida Nation, coming into their 
midst as emigrants, from time to time during the last half of 



INDIANS. 121 

the eighteenth century. They located mostly upon and 
near the Oriskany in the town of Marshall, Oneida County. 
They derived their name from the fact of their being a union 
of many tribes, or brothers. Having no common language, 
they adopted the English language. Rev. Samson Occum, 
a Mohegian, was a celebrated preacher in their tribe. He 
was a thoroughly educated Indian, He went to England 
to solicit aid for the Lebanon Indian school at Connecticut, 
and while there received many marks of favor. During his 
subsequent life, he carried a gold-mounted cane presented to 
him by the King. He preached in the King's Chapel be- 
fore George III ; also in the pulpit of Whitfield, and indeed 
" the noblest chapels in the kingdom were open to him." 
The King, many of the nobility and persons of distinction, 
became patrons of the school. Mr. Occum preached for 
many years with his tribe, and in connection with Mr. Ser- 
geant, a portion of his time at Stockbridge. He was often 
called upon by the white settlers to preach, attend funerals, 
and solemnize marriages. He was a man oi cultivated 
mind, pleasing address and manners, and in his life exem- 
plified the spirit of the Gospel. He enjoyed the confidence 
of Mr. Kirkland and all Christians in the settlements. He 
died at New Stockbridge in July, 1792, aged sixty-nine 
years. 

THE STOCKBRIDGE INDIANS, 

were adopted into the Oneida Nation, and removed to the 
lands granted them in Stockbridge in 1783. This tract 
was six miles square and was called New Stockbridge. It 
lay in the present towns of Vernon, Oneida County, and 
Stockbridge, Madison County. Rev. John Sergeant, their 
pastor, came with them and established a church imme- 
diately, at their new home. Sixteen members formed this 
new church, — the tribe then numbering four hundred and 
twenty souls. This church was increased by additions to 
their settlement in 1785, and in 1788, when the whole tribe 
had emigrated from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, their na- 



122 MADISON COUNTY, 

tive home. Mr. Sergeant regularly spent six months in the 
year at New Stockbridge, until 1796, when he removed his 
family hither, after which he continued to reside with them 
till his death. In 1796, Legislature granted a tract of 
land one mile square, adjoining Stockbridge, to Mr. Ser- 
geant, known as Sergeant's Patent. This was a present 
from the Indians. In 18 18, the Stockbridge Indians num- 
bered four hundred and thirty-eight souls, and owned a very 
large amount of land in Oneida and Madison counties. 
That year (18 18), about a quarter of the tribe went west by 
invitation of the Delawares, who, with them, had been given 
lands one hundred and fifty years ago on the White River, 
Indiana, by the Miamis, Before they reached White River 
they learned that the Delawares had sold the whole tract to 
the government of Indiana. In 1821, the Six Nations and 
Stockbridges, St. Regis and Munsee tribes, purchased of 
the Menominees and Winnebagoes a large tract of land upon 
Green Bay, and the Winnebago and Fox Rivers in Wis- 
consin. In 1822, a large part of the tribe remaining, re- 
moved to that territory, and the rest soon followed. There 
they have made considerable advances in civilization, and 
are in general sober and industrious. 

Rev. John Sergeant was buried in the burial ground near 
his last residence. The following epitaph was placed upon 
the headstone that marks his grave : 

" In Memory of 
Rev, John Sergeant, 

Missionary to the 
Stockbridge Indians, 

During 36 years. 
He departed this life 

Sept. 7th, 1824, 

Aged 'j6 years. 

Blessed is that servant who 

his Lord when he cometh shall 

find so doing." 



MADISON COUNTY. 1 23 



C HAPTER II 



MADISON COUNTY. 

Territorial Changes. — County of Tryon. — Montgomery and Her- 
kimer. — Formation of Towns. — Formation of Chenango 
County and of Madison. — Roads. — Canals. — Rail Roads. 
— County Societies and Associations. — County proceed- 
ings to 18 10. — County Courts. — Civil List. — Capital 
trials and convictions, with a sketch of the life of Abram 
Antone ; history of the murder committed by Lewis Wilber, 
and by John Hadcock. 

The State of New York was called by the Dutch, New 
Netherlands, and as late as 1638, that portion of it lying 
west of Fort Orange (Albany), was termed " Terra Incog- 
nita" or Unknown Land. 

For many years the territory of New Netherlands had 
been a source of contention between the English and 
Dutch, and in the year 1664, Charles II, King of England, 
regardless of the rights of Holland, granted to his brother 
James, Duke of Albany and York, the whole of New Nether- 
lands, and then proceeded to conquer it by force of arms. 
This was easily accomplished, as the inhabitants had 
wearied of the stern military government of Peter Stuy vesant 

The name of the colony and city was then changed 
from New Netherlands to New York, and Fort Orange 
changed to Albany. 

The Dutch again reclaimed the territory in 1673, and 
held it till the next year, when they finally surrendered it 
to the English, 



124 MADISON COUNTY. 

There were some doubts as to the vaHdity of the patent 
giving the Duke of York, and he accordingly obtained 
another from the King. 

Peace being restored with the Dutch, a rapid internal 
growth soon commenced, and in the year 1683, the colony 
was divided into twelve counties, one of which was Albany, 
which embraced an indefinite portion of this " Terra Incog- 
nita." Nearly a century elapsed before this county was 
divided, though many changes had taken place in the more 
southeastern part of the state. 

In the year 1772, from the territory of Albany County, 
Tryon was formed, which embraced all that part of the 
State, west of a line running nearly north and south 
through the present County of Scoharie, and was named 
from William Tryon, Colonial Governor. In the Revolu- 
tionary struggle, Tryon exhibited such unmistakable hos- 
tility to the Americans, that the inhabitants of this county 
were desirous of dispensing with a name thus rendered 
obnoxious. Accordingly on the 2d of April, 1784, Legis- 
lature changed the name of Tr}^on County to Montgomery, 
in honor of the American General, Richard Montgomery, 
who gallantly fell at Quebec. 

By the same act, Montgomery County was divided into 
five districts, named Mohawk, Canajoharrie, Palatine, Ger- 
man Flats, and Kingsland. 

By an act passed March 7, 1788, defining the bound- 
aries of the several counties of the State, the County of 
Montgomery was declared to contain all that part of the 
State bounded easterly by the counties of Ulster, Albany, 
Washington and Clinton ; southerly by the State of Penn- 
sylvania ; and westerly and northerly by the west and 
north bounds of the State. An act passed at the same 
date, the German Flats District was divided, and the town 
of Whites Town was formed from it. This town embraced 
all that part of the State of New York, lying west of a 
line drawn north and south across the State, crossing the 



MADISON COUNTY. 1 25 

Mohawk River at " Old Fort Schuyler," (Utica) and which 
line was the western boundary of the towns of Herkimer, 
German Flats and Otsego. 

By an act passed March 22, 1788, the town of Chemung 
was formed in and from a part of Montgomery County, 
lying on the Owego and Tioga Rivers. 

In 1789, the County of Montgomery was divided, and 
all that part west of a line drawn north and south across 
the State, through the Seneca Lake two miles east of 
Geneva, was called Ontario County, and was extensively 
known abroad as the " Genesee Country." 

Feb. 16, 1 791, Montgomery County was divided, and the 
Counties of Tioga, Otsego and Herkimer formed from its 
territory, and the bounds of the County of Ontario changed. 

The County of Herkimer, was bounded as follows : — 
" All that tract of land bounded westerly by the County of 
Ontario, northerly by the north bounds of this State, east- 
erly by the Counties of Clinton, Washington and Saratoga, 
and southerly by the Counties of Montgomery, Otsego 
and Tioga." Within its domain lay our own county of 
Madison. 

By an act passed April 10, 179-^, the towns of Westmore- 
land, Steuben, Paris, Mexico and Peru, were formed from 
Whitestown. The west line of this town extended to the 
west line of Madison County. The two towns, Paris and 
Whitestown, embraced within their borders all of the pres- 
ent County of Madison. 

In the year 1795, Cazenoviawas formed from Whitestown 
and Paris ; it embraced the present towns of Lenox, Sulli- 
van, a part of Stockbridge, Smithfield, Fenner, Cazenovia, 
Nelson, Georgetown and DeRuyter of this County, and 
Lincklaen, Pitcher, Otselic and German of Chenango 
County. 

At the same time, Hamilton and Brookfield were formed 
from Paris. Hamilton then embraced the present towns of 



126 MADISON COUNTY. 

Hamilton, Lebanon, Eaton and Madison. Brookfield in- 
cluded the present towns of Brookfield and Columbus, (ex- 
cept a portion annexed to Columbus in 1807,) Chenango 
County.* 

In the year 1794, the County of Onondaga was formed 
from Herkimer, and in the year 1798, the County of Oneida 
was also formed from its territory. An act of the same 
date, March 15, 1798, the County of Chenango was set 
apart from the southern part of Herkimer and northern part 
of Tioga Counties. Chenango County then embraced all 
the territory now occupied by the town of Sangerfield, 
Oneida County, all of Madison County (except that part of 
Stockbridge east of Oneida Creek), besides the towns of its 
present territory, Sangerfield was annexed to Oneida in 
1804. 

By an act passed March 21, 1806, Madison County was 
formed from Chenango. It was named in honor of Presi- 
dent Madison. 

Madison County, situated in central New York, is bound- 
ed north by Oneida Lake and Oneida County ; east by 
Oneida and Otsego Counties ; south by Chenango County, 
and west by Cortland and Onondaga Counties. It contains 
an area of six hundred and seventy square miles. 

The surface is diversified and generally hilly, except in 
the north part which is low, level and swampy. The high 
ridge which divides the waters which flow north and south, 
crosses this county. This water-shed gives a series of 
ridges and valleys, with a general course north and south. 
The hills generally have rounded outlines and steep de- 
clivities, their highest summits being five hundred to 
eight hundred feet above the valleys, and nine hundred to 
twelve hundred feet above tide. The principal streams 
upon the north slope are Chittenango Creek, forming a part 
of the west boundary of the county, Oneida Creek, forming 
a part of the east boundary, and the Canaseraga, Canastota 

* For further accounts of the formation of towns, see chapters on the towns. 



MADISON COUNTY. 12/ 

and Cowaselon Creeks ; and the principal ones flowing 
south, are the Unadilla River upon the east border, Beaver 
Creek, Chenango River and its branches, Otsehc Creek and 
the Tioughneoga River. The principal bodies of water are 
Oneida Lake, forming the north boundary, and Owahgena, 
or Cazenovia Lake, near the center of the west border. 
The latter is four miles Jong and nine hundred feet above 
tide. 

ROADS. 

The opening ot various thoroughfares have exerted a 
powerful influence upon the interests of this county. The 
pioneer followed Indian trails, and branched off from these 
into courses designated by marked trees. No path is better 
remembered than the Great Trail which entered Madison 
County at Oneida Castle, passed through Lenox by the 
way of Wampsville and Quality Hill, through Sullivan by 
Canaseraga and Chittenango, leaving the county at Deep 
Spring. 

The first road of the county was opened on this trail by 
William and James Wadsworth, in the year 1790, on their 
way to the Genesee country, where they planted a colony. 
William Wadsworth, the leader of this company, left his 
home in June, 1790, with an ox team and cart, two or three 
hired men, and a favorite colored woman, Jenny, who was 
for a long time the only one of her race in that region. 
West of Whitesboro, Mr. Wadsworth was obliged to cut 
away logs, build causeways through the sloughs, ford 
streams, and when arriving at Cayuga Lake construct a 
pontoon of two Indian canoes, lashed together and covered 
with poles. 

The State afterwards, in the years 1794 and 1795, made 
an appropriation for the improvement of the road opened by 
Mr. Wadsworth, and it was thereafter known as the Great 
South Genesee Road, or State Road. In 1797, the State 
passed a law authorizing the raising of forty-five thousand 
dollars by lotteries, to be expended in improving various 



128 MADISON COUNTY. 

roads in the State, thirteen thousand nine hundred dollars 
of which was appropriated for opening and improving the 
Great Genesee Road, in all its extent, from Fort Schuyler 
(Utica) to Geneva. In the Whitestown Gazette and Catds 
Patrol, of August 27, 1798, published at Utica, appears the 
following advertisement : 

" New York State Road Lottery, No. i. Tickets sold 
by John Post." 

There was yet great need of improvement in this road, 
and in the year 1800, the Seneca Turnpike Company was 
chartered for the purpose of improving it. The capital 
stock was one hundred and ten thousand dollars ; shares 
fifty dollars each. Jedediah Sanger, Benjamin Walker, 
Charles Williamson and Israel Chapin were appointed com- 
missioners. The charter was amended in 1801, and the 
commissioners were privileged to deviate from the old road. 
They had resolved to straighten it and avoid the monstrous 
Canaseraga Hill, as it was then called, which lay southwest 
from Chittenango, and also the Onondaga Hill. They found 
little opposition to the changes made from Westmoreland 
to Chittenango, as there were but few white inhabitants on 
the way, but at the latter place they were met by a large 
delegation from Manliusand Onondaga, who feared the com- 
missioners would select a more northern route. The settlers 
on the northern route had not sufficient interest in the road 
to send on their advocates, and consequently, by the aid of 
a pretty fair ruse, those in favor of the southern, had it all 
their own way. Being well acquainted with the country, 
they proposed to pilot the commissioners over the most 
suitable ground for the road. They first led them up the 
ravine northwest of Chittenango, a mile and a half, when 
they found themselves hemmed in on three sides by a per- 
pendicular ledge of rocks more than a hundred feet high, 
with no way of getting out but by backing out. With well 
feigned sincerity, the guides explained this as a mistake, and 
the commissioners were led over the next best suppbsable 



MADISON COUNTY. 1 29 

route, across this ravine along the great hill toward Harts- 
ville and into one of the most dismal of all places, then dig- 
nified by the very significant name of Gulf of Mexico, now 
called the Basin, a place where the mountainous hights per- 
mits the sun to make only short diurnal visits. 

The forbidding aspect of the country all about them com- 
pelled them to return to Chittenango the way they had 
come. The weary commissioners resigned themselves to 
the sophistry of those interested advocates ; the northern 
r .ute was declared impracticable, and the Seneca Turnpike 
was laid out over the hill passing the county line a short 
distance above Deep Spring, where William Sayles kept 
tavern in 1793, on through Manlius Square, Jamesville and 
Onondaga Hollow. Not long afterwards the company 
learned they had not availed themselves of the most favor- 
able route. They solicited an amendment to the charter 
which was granted in 1806. They were now enabled to 
build a new road from Chittenango, through the Onondaga 
Reservation near the Salt Springs, to Cayuga Bridge, and 
fifty thousand dollars was added to the capital stock. 

This was now the " Great Genesee Turnpike," a name as 
familiar as household words to the dwellers of Madison 
County and the famous Holland Purchase, then the " Great 
West " of this State, 

The first United States Mail through this county was 
carried by a Mr. Langdon, from Whitestown to Genesee, on 
horseback, in 1797 or '98, who distributed papers and un- 
sealed letters by the way, before intermediate offices were 
established. Mr. Lucas succeeded Mr. Langdon in trans- 
porting the mail, which, in 1 800, had become so heavy as to 
require a wagon to carry it. Mr. Lucas established a 
sort of two horse passenger hack, and did a brisk and profit- 
able business. The first four horse mail coach was sent 
through once a week, by Jason Parker, in 1803, and in 1804 
commenced running regularly, twice a week, from Utica to 
Canandaigua, carrying the United States mail and passen- 



130 MADISON COUNTY, 

gers. In 1804, an act was passed, granting to Jason Parker 
and Levi Stephens, the exclusive right for seven years, of 
running a Hne of stages for the conveyance of passengers at 
least twice a week, along the Genesee Road or Seneca 
Turnpike, between the villages of Utica and Canandaigua. 
They were bound to furnish four good and substantial cov- 
ered wagons or sleighs, and sufficient horses to run the 
same ; the fare not to exceed five cents per mile for each 
passenger, with fourteen pounds of baggage. They were, 
by law, bound to run through in forty-eight hours, acci- 
dents excepted, and not more than seven passengers were 
allowed in any one carriage, except by the unanimous con- 
sent of the said seven passengers ; and, if four passengers 
above the seven, applied for passage, they were bound to im- 
mediately fit out and start an extra for their accommoda- 
tion ; or any number less than four should be accommodated 
by paying the fare of four. 

In 1808, a daily line was established, and afterwards sev- 
eral others, which were continued until the completion of 
the Syracuse and Utica Railroad. 

Before 1804, the Peterboro Turnpike, which extended 
from Vernon through Peterboro to Cazenovia, was con- 
structed. This opened facilities for travel and marketing 
for the second tier of towns. In 1803, the Cherry Valley 
Turnpike Company was chartered, and the " Third Great 
Western Turnpike " was constructed. It extended from 
Cherry Valley to Manlius, passing through the towns of 
Madison, Eaton, Nelson and Cazenovia. It has been of 
incalculable value, in opening away whereby the exports of 
a wide and cultivated region of country have found trans- 
portation. The Hamilton and Skaneateles Turnpike, 
built a few years later, formed another in the series of roads, 
which have been sources of wealth to the towns through 
which they passed. This Turnpike was commenced 
in 1811, running from Plainfield, Otsego county, through 



MADISON COUNTY, 



131 



Brookfield, Hamilton, Eaton, Erieville and New Woodstock 
to Skaneateles. 

Joseph Morse, of Eaton, took more interest in this road 
than any other one man. He had at one time thirty thous- 
and dollars of stock in the road, and but for him it would 
never have been built. His son Ellis Morse, was also 
largely concerned in the enterprise. It was a source of 
benefit to the town but not to the stockholders. 

THE ERIE CANAL. 

The project of uniting the Western Lakes with the Hud- 
son River, thus forming a chain of internal navigation, was 
a subject of much agitation as early as 1812. Years before, 
the idea was cherished by individuals. Governeur Morris 
broached the subject as early as 18 12, but it was considered 
a chimerical idea. In 1804, Simeon De Witt, in a conver- 
sation with Mr. Geddes, mentioned Mr. Morris' plan as one 
of the impracticable schemes. Mr. Geddes, who was a 
land surveyor in Onondaga county, viewed the matter in a 
different light, and counseled with Jesse Hawley upon the 
subject. The latter wrote a series of papers published in 
the Genesee Messenger, from October, 1807, to March, 1808. 
These essays were signed " Hercules," and were the first 
ever printed in favor of the Erie Canal. 

In 1808, Joshua Foreman, an intimate associate of Mr. 
Geddes, then a Member of Assembly, introduced a resolu- 
tion for the survey of the canal route, to the end that Con- 
gress might be led to grant moneys for the construction of 
a canal. The sum of six hundred dollars was granted for 
surveys, under the direction of the Surveyor General. 
James Geddes was intrusted with this service, which em- 
braced the surveying of several routes. He performed his 
work, and made a report which excited general attention, 
and secured the influence of De Witt Clinton, then a mem- 
ber of the Senate, and many other prominent men. 

In 1 8 10, commissioners, at the head of whom was De 



132 MADISON COUNTY. 

Witt Clinton, were appointed to explore a canal route 
through the centre of the State. 

The report of the commissioners induced the Govern- 
ment to authorize appropriations, when the war of 1812 
suspended all active operations. The project, however, con- 
tinued to be discussed, and an Act was passed the 17th of 
April, 1 8 16, providing for a definite survey. 

The canal was begun at Rome, July 4th, 181 7, and in the 
autumn of 1825, was completed. Its completion was cele- 
brated with great ceremony at New York City, and at many 
points throughout the State, on the 4th day of November, 
1825. As the first boat, with Governor Clinton on board, 
entered the canal at Buffalo, October 26, at ten o'clock in 
the morning, a line of cannon, previously arranged a few 
miles apart, passed a signal along to Albany and down the 
Hudson to Sandy Hook, from whence it was returned in 
like manner. The signal was heard at New York at eleven 
o'clock twenty minutes. The flotilla, with the Governor, was 
everywhere greeted with enthusiasm. Upon reaching New 
York the boat passed down to Sandy Hook, and the waters 
of the lake were mingled with those of the ocean with im- 
posing ceremonies. 

The canal commissioners, under whom the Erie and also 
the Champlain canals were constructed, were Stephen Van 
Renssellaer, De Witt Clinton, Joseph Ellicott, Samuel 
Young, and Myron Holley. Henry Seymour was appoint- 
ed in place of Ellicott in March, 18 19, and William C, 
Bouck was added to the number in March, 1821. The chief 
engineers were James Geddes, of Onondaga County, and 
Benjamin Wright, of Rome. Among the assistant engi- 
neers were David Thomas, Nathan S. Roberts, David S. 
Bates, Canvass White, Davis Hurd, Noah Dennis, Charles 
T. Whippo, William Jerome, Henry G. Sargent, Frederic 
C. Mills, Isaac J. Thomas, Henry Farnham, Alfred Barrett, 
John Bates, William H. Price, John Hopkins, and Seymour 
Skiff. The original cost of the canal was $7,143,789.89. 



MADISON COUNTY. 1 33 

The first packet on the canal was run when but the sec- 
tion from Utica to Montezuma was completed. It was the 
" Oneida Chief," George Perry, Captain. Perry was a 
Sullivan citizen. In 1820, a line of packets was established 
between Utica and Montezuma, and large amounts of mer- 
chandise found its way east by this line. A new era com- 
menced for northern Madison County, for new resorces 
were developed and new enterprises sprung into life with 
the opening of the canal. The old form of transportation 
with long Hues of heavily loaded teams, to Albany, ceased 
to be. For years, a transportation line owned by H. H. 
Cobb of Chittenango, was plying between Albany and 
Fayetteville, Onondaga County. The boats on this line were 
the Andrew Jackson, George Washington, Victory, Yates, 
Cazenovia, Commerce and Chittenango. H. H. Cobb also 
dealt largely in forwarding, owned several warehouses, and 
employed a large number of workmen. 

An enlargement of the Erie Canal was ordered in 1835, 
and for many years was under operation. In many places 
its route was changed ; at one point in the town of Sulli- 
van north of Chittenango, a considerable alteration is notice- 
able. These changes are calculated to shorten the route 
and reduce the number of locks. Its section gives a 
breadth of seventy feet at the surface of the water, and 
fifty-two and one-half feet at the bottom, and a depth of 
seven feet. The banks are protected from washing by 
slope walls, consisting of stone firmly packed upon the 
sloping sides. Boats of two hundred and two hundred and 
fifty tons burden can traverse this canal. It is fed from the 
south by the seven reservoirs of the Chenango canal, (that 
canal being the feeder,) by Cazenovia Lake, Erieville Res- 
ervoir and De Ruyter Reservoir, all in Madison County ; 
and Skaneateles Lake of Onondaga County. 

The Chenango Canal, connecting the Erie canal at Utica 
with the Susquehanna River at Binghamton, was chartered 
Feb. 3, 1833. The project of building' this canal had been 



134 MADISON COUNTY. 

discussed since 1826. Governor Bouck was an uncompro- 
mising friend of the measure. Henry Seymour, Rufus 
Bacon, James B. Eldridge, John G. Stower, Sands Hig- 
inbothan, Moses Maynard, Lot Clark, Julius Pond and 
Thomas Wylie, men who were widely known and influen- 
tial throughout Central New York, were advocates of the 
Chenango Canal. The work was begun in 1833 and 
finished in 1836, at an aggregate cost of ^1,737,703. The 
canal is supplied by Chenango River, and seven Res- 
ervoirs which lie in the south and east part of Madison 
County, viz : — Madison Brook Reservoir, Woodman's Lake, 
Leland's Pond, Bradley's Brook Reservoir, Hatch's Lake, 
Eaton Brook and Lebanon Reservoirs. It extends 
to, and up the valley of the Oriskany Creek to the summit 
level in the town of Madison, and down the valley of the 
Chenango River. From Utica to the summit, it rises 
seven hundred and six feet by seventy-six locks, and from 
thence it descends three hundred and three feet by thirty- 
eight locks to the Susquehanna. It is ninty-seven miles 
long. Of its one hundred and fourteen locks, two are stone 
and the remainder composite.* 

The Syracuse and Utica Railroad superseded the old 
Seneca Turnpike, and robbed it of its passenger travel, as 
the Erie Canal had of its freight, years before. Neverthe- 
less, the improvement was ardently desired and advanced 
by men of influence in the northern part of the county. 
A company was formed May 11, 1836, with a capital 
of ^100,000. Work commenced immediately, and 
the road was completed and opened in 1839; ^^ then 
made connections with the Utica and Schenectady 
road on the east, and with the Syracuse and Auburn road 
on the west. This was an independent road till 1853, when 
the New York Central Rail Road Company was formed, by 
consolidating the several roads in operation along the line. 

* N. Y. S. Gazetteer of 1860, p. 60. 



MADISON COUNTY. 1 35 

The stations of the Central in this county, are Oneida, 
Wampsville, Canastota, Canaseraga, and Chittenango. 

PLANK ROADS. 

Facilities for the increase of travel were demanded as the 
county increased its exports, and consequently plank roads 
found great favor with the people. Between the years 1848 
and '52, the enterprise had crossed and recrossed the county 
with a net work of plank highways. Around and over hills 
and rough places, transportation was made easy by level- 
ing, and grading, and laying of plank. In 1848, a plank road 
was constructed from Hamilton to Utica ; another connect- 
ed Hamilton, Madison and Oriskany in 1850; in the same 
year Georgetown and Pecksport were united by a road pass- 
ing through "West Eaton and Eaton. During the year 
185 1, a plank road was laid from Morrisville to Canastota, 
and another from Peterboro to Clarksville was in progress. 
A very principal plank road extended from DeRuyter to 
Oneida Lake, through New Woodstock, Cazenovia, Chit- 
tenango and its depots, a distance of thirty-one miles. It 
was completed at great cost, as a portion of it passed the 
difficult descent at Chittenango Falls, which required ex- 
pensive grading. The hill of eight hundred feet in hight 
was made an easy grade of no more than six feet rise to the 
hundred. 

Although plank roads seemed to be but temporary bless- 
ings, yet an unlooked for benefit has resulted therefrom. 
The people could not content themselves to travel on any- 
thing so bad as the old roads, and as fast as the planks disap- 
peared, they continued to improve them in various ways, which 
results in fairer roads than even those of plank. The mac- 
adamized, or stone road from Morrisville through Peterboro 
to Canastota, is one of superior excellence. That which 
superseded the plank road from Cazenovia to Lakeport, is 
a grand improvement, having a better route, and a broad, 
handsome road bed of stone, extending to Lakeport through 
the marshy " Vly " where the plank so speedily rotted away. 



136 MADISON COUNTY. "'[ 

RAILROADS. 

The Midland.- A grand Midland Railway to extend 
from Oswego to New York City, crossing the central coun- 
ties of the State, was projected in 1867. Its line was laid 
through Madison County, crossing the towns of Lenox, 
Stockbridge, Eaton, Lebanon and Hamilton. These towns 
bonded heavily to help build the road. The road was car- 
ried through some of the most inaccessible portions ol 
this county. The first Board of Directors were : Hon. 
D. C. Littlejohn of Oswego, President ; Wm. Foster of 
Cleaveland, Oswego county, De Witt C. Stephens of Onei- 
da, J. W. Merchant of De Ruyter, John A. Rundell and 
Edward T. Hayes of Norwich, Dr. H. E. Bartlett of Wal- 
ton, A. C. Edgarton of Delhi, Delaware county, Edward 
Palen of Fallsburgh, Hon. H. R. Low of Monticello, E. 
P. Wheeler of Middletown, Waldo Hutchins of New 
York City. Walter M, Conkey of Norwich, Treasurer ; 
B. Gage Berry of Norwich, Secretary ; Wm. B. Gilbert, 
Chief Engineer. 

The first passenger train on the Midland was run on the 
29th day of August, 1869. It was drawn by engine " 4," 
the " Delaware," Edwin Williams, Engineer, and Jas. T. 
Purdy, Conductor, It was run from West Monroe to 
Oneida the 29th and 30th, for the purpose of bringing in 
hop-pickers. 

The line was opened through Madison county during the 
year 1870. Notwithstanding the numerous railroads re- 
cently constructed through this county, transportation and 
travel continues to increase on the Midland. 

The Cazenovia and Canastota, passing from Caze- 
novia to Canastota, through the town of Fenner, was an 
undertaking projected and carried out, by a company com- 
posed of individuals residing in those towns. It was a 
stupendous project, the carrying of a railroad through an 
extremely rugged country, by the efforts of a few individ- 
uals, assisted by the bonding of the three towns. It was com- 



MADISON COUNTY. 1 3/ 

menced in 1867, and completed in 1870. Its first directors 
were : Benj. F. Jarvis, Charles Brown, Lewison Fairchild, 
O. W. Sage, Chas. Stebbins, jr., and George L. Rouse of 
Cazenovia ; Dr. Theodore Mead and John Wilson of Fen- 
ner ; Charles Stroud, John Montross, Thomas N. Jarvis, 
Perkins Clark and Ralph H. Avery of Canastota. 

This year, 1872, the Cazenovia and Canastota Railroad 
is being extended to De Ruyter. 

The Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley, 
which passes through the eastern part of this county, was 
built in 1868-9. It is a road of immense advantage to sec- 
tions of Brookfield and eastern Hamilton. 

The Utica, Clinton and Chenango Valley was com- 
pleted to the Midland at Smith's Valley, in Lebanon, in 
1870. It passes through the towns of Madison and Hamil- 
ton, in this county. The first travel on this road from this 
county, of any note, was in the autumn of 1870, when an 
immense concourse were conveyed to the State Fair then 
being held in Utica. 

The Auburn Branch of the Midland, was completed to 
Norwich in 1871. This passes through De Ruyter and a 
part of Georgetown. 

The Syracuse and Chenango Valley, passing through 
this county, is in the course of construction, and the close of 
1872 will probably find it completed. It will be of vast im- 
portance to a large section of country hitherto inland. Its 
route is directed through Cazenovia, (where there is a tun- 
nel of 1,600 feet in length,) Nelson, Georgetown and Leba- 
non, reaching the Midland at Earlville. 

county societies. 

Madison County Agricultural Society, was organ- 
ized September i, 1841. J. D. Ledyard of Cazenovia, 
was chosen first President ; Elijah Morse of Eaton, H. G. 
Warner of Sullivan, J. H. Dunbar of East Hamilton, Vice 
Presidents ; Alexander Krumbhaar of Cazenovia, Corres- 



138 MADISON COUNTY. 

ponding Secretary ; A. S. Sloan of Eaton, Recording Sec- 
retary ; Uriah Leland of Eaton, Treasurer, For several 
years the society held fairs in various sections of the county, 
and the annual gatherings were places of interest to those 
concerned in the development of agriculture and the im- 
provement of stock. Since the time' of its formation, after 
its first officers, the following named gentlemen have pre- 
sided, and zealously promoted the agricultural interests of 
the county: 1842 and '43, George B. Rowe, Lenox ; 1844 
and '45, Seneca B. Burchard, Eaton; 1846 and '47, John 
Williams, Cazenovia ; 1848 and '49, Benjamin Enos, De- 
Ruyter ; 1850, Lewis Raynor, Cazenovia; 185 1, James H, 
Dunbar, Hamilton ; 1852, Elijah Morse, Eaton. In 1853, 
the society leased grounds in Morrisville where the annual 
fairs were held during the rest of its existence. The an- 
nual reports of the society furnish the names of many who 
have in its early days been interested in the farmers' pro- 
gress in this county. Among those are Curtis Hoppin, in 
bringing in the first flock of sheep. General Cleaveland, 
Col. Lincklaen, Messrs. Whitman and Douglass of Sullivan, 
who improved the breed of cows, and John B. Yates, that of 
horses. Also the following in the various departments of 
stock raising have invited progress : Mr. Ward of Wamps- 
ville, Mr. Beaumont of Eaton, Mr. Burchard of Madison, 
Mr. David Osgood of Hamilton, Mr. Muir of Hamilton, 
Sanford P, Chapman of Clockville, Amos Scott of Brook- 
field, Judge Enos, Mr. Gage and Mr. Merchant of DeRuy- 
ter, Mr, George T. Taylor and Mr. Leonard Howes of Mad- 
ison, Mr. Gilbert of Hamilton, Col. C. D. Miller of Peter- 
boro, Mr. Ackley of Hamilton and Ellis Morse of Eaton, 

So great was the interest in the different towns, that these 
were induced to organize town societies. The Brookfield 
Agricultural Society was organized in 1856; Canaseraga 
Agricultural and Mechanical Society was organized in 1858 ; 
Lebanon Agricultural Society, formed 1856; Hamilton 
Agricultural and Horticultural Association, formed 1857; 



MADISON COUNTY. 1 39 

Farmers' and Mechanics' Association of Fenner, formed 

1857 ; Nelson Farmers' and Mechanics' Association, formed 

1858 ; Farmers' and Mechanics' Association of Cazenovia, 
formed 1859; and the more recent Agricultural and Me- 
chanical Association of Lenox. 

Madison County Medical Society. — On the 29th day 
of July, 1806, the following eighteen persons met in Sulli- 
van to organize the Madison County Medical Society, viz : 
Israel Farrell, Jonas Fay, James Moore, James Pratt, John 
D. Henry, John Dorrance, Jonathan Pratt, Wm, P. Cleave- 
land, Elijah Putnam, Elijah Pratt, Thomas Greenly, Amos 
S. Amsden, Constant Merrick, Stephen Percival, Zadoc 
Parker, Rufus Holton, Asa B. Sizer, Asahel Prior. 

First President, Israel Farrell ; Vice President, Jonas Fay ; 
Secretary, Elijah Pratt. 

This was an active, efficient body, striving to elevate the 
medical profession, working in harmony with the reforms of 
the day, and as early as 1830, so far gave its influence to the 
temperance cause, as to pass resolutions in one of their 
meetings, denouncing the use of intoxicating liquors as a 
beverage, discountenancing the traffic, and dispensing with 
its use in the medical practice, as far as was possible. This 
Society has continued its regular meetings up to this day. 

Present officers are : President, A. L. Saunders ; Vice 
President, Dr. H. W. Carpenter ; Secretary, Dr. D. D. 
Chase ; Treasurer, . 

Madison County Auxiliary Bible Society, was formed 
October, 18 16. From that date to the present it has con- 
tinued its sittings, faithfully prosecuting its humanitarian 
labors and christianizing the people. It is to be regretted 
that we have not the names of those who originated a so- 
ciety which has so long benefited our county. Its dona- 
tions have been up to 1858, 1^5,701.51. Remittances for 
Bibles, $6,814.87. 

The Madison Baptist Association, was organized in 
the year 1808. There was then several Baptist Churches 



140 MADISON COUNTY. 

in Madison County, mostly belonging to the Otsego Asso- 
ciation. The needs of the new country and the increasing 
number of churches, led to a Conference held in Cazenovia 
October 15, 1806, by delegates from sixteen churches, with 
reference to forming another Association. August 26, 
1807, the 2d Brookfield, Cazenovia, De Ruyter, Eaton, 
Fabius, German, Hamilton, Homer, Lisle, Madison, Man- 
lius, Nelson, ist Pompey, 2d Pompey, Smithfield, Sherburne, 
Sangerfield and Truxton churches, met by delegates in 
Conference, in Pompey. The Revs. Vining, Robertson 
and Spencer, came as delegates from the Otsego Associa- 
tion. To the new body then formed they gave the name 
of " The Madison Baptist Association," which was duly 
recognized at its first anniversary held in German, now 
Pitcher, Chenango Co., August 31, and September i, 1808. 
An unbroken series of minutes from that time to the pres- 
ent shows its changes, labors and success. 

Much was done by supplying destitute churches within 
its bounds with preaching, and considerable missionary 
work was done in northern and western New York by 
John Peck, Elisha Ransom, Joel Butler, Alfred Ben- 
nett, Ashbel Hosmer, John Lawton, Nathan Baker and 
Hezekiah Eastman. In 181 5, a Missionary Society was 
formed within the bounds of the Association, auxiliary to 
the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions. The Hamilton 
Literary and Theological Seminary, now more generally 
called Madison University, has also risen within the bounds 
of this Association, and through the influence of the 
beloved Hascall and Kendrick, it was wedded to the 
churches, and the churches to it. Within the last thirty- 
five years, fourteen Baptist brethren and sisters, belonging 
to this county, have become foreign missionaries. 
Through all the pioneer service, men and women have not 
been wanting, who were capable and willing to endure 
hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ — brave and 
decided servants of God, who were not afraid to do their 



MADISON COUNTY, I4I 

duty. Proofs are on record that the evangelical efiforts of 
those early days were efficiently aided by the sisters ; 
" many a Deborah arose a mother in Israel ; many a be- 
loved Persis labored much in the Lord ; many a Phebe 
served the church, and many a Mary bestowed much 
labor on Christ's weary ministers." 

The Semi-Centennial Anniversary Meeting was held in 
Cazenovia Village, September 8 and 9, 1858. 

This Association has of late years combined with its 
meetings, the Madison Baptist Sabbath School Association. 
The two, form a society whose annual and semi-annual 
meetings held at different points, are full of interest. 

The Madison Colonization Society, was organized 
June 8, 1830. Its first officers were Dr. Nathaniel Ken- 
drick, President ; C. S. Jackson and Gerritt Smith, Vice- 
Presidents ; Rev. E. White, Secretary ; Epenetes Holmes, 
Treasurer ; Stephen F, Blackstone, Rev. Daniel Hascall, 
Edward Lewis, Rev. T. Mills and Prof Barnas Sears, 
Managers. The society had for its object the gradual 
emancipation of slaves, (to the end that slavery might be 
extinguished,) and their return to Africa effected by the 
planting of colonies. The Liberia colony was the work of 
the Colonization Society of the United States. Madison 
County Colonization Society was merged into the Madison 
County Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. 

A County Temperance Society was in existence 
between the years 1825 and '35. Andrew Yates, Nathaniel 
Kendrick, Samuel T. Mills and Gerrit Smith, were its 
leaders. 

The Madison County Homoeopathic Medical 
Society, was organized at Morrisville, July 4, 1865. 
President, Dr, D. D. Loomis, Morrisville ; Vice-President, 
Dr. Ira C. Owen, Sherburne ; Secretary and Treasurer, 
Dr Geo. B. Palmer, Hamilton ; Censors, Drs. E. A. Wal- 
lace, G. L. Gifford, and Geo. B. Palmer. 



142 MADISON COUNTY. 

Madison County Lodge I. O. of G. T., is a secret tem- 
perance organization, having for its object the promotion of to- 
tal abstinence, the reformation of inebriates, the suppression 
of the sale of intoxicating drinks, and in all ways, promoting 
the interests of temperance. 

The Association first met May 14th, 1868, at Oneida, 
where the Articles of the Association were drafted. Quar- 
terly meetings were held with the subordinate lodges in 
different towns. 

Madison County Lodge was formally organized May 
13th, 1869, (said meeting being held at Nelson Flats,) in 
accordance with the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of 
New York, and the Constitution and By-Laws drafted for 
the County Lodge were adopted. 

Henry Brown of Brookfield, was its first C. C. T ; L. E. 
Bonney of Georgetown, P. C. C. T. ; C. W, Hatch of New 
Woodstock, C. S. William Girvin of Oneida, was elected 
C. C. T. for the year 1870, and has continued in that office 
since ; Mrs. L. M. Hammond of Eaton, C. S., in 1871, was 
succeeded by J. H. Messenger of Madison, in 1872 ; Rev. 
B. W. Hamilton was appointed C. D. in 1870, and has con- 
tinued in that office since. There are fourteen good, work- 
ing subordinate Lodges in the County, over which this 
Lodge has supervision, namely : Oneida Chief, Oneida ; 
Alert, Canastota ; Owahgena, Cazenovia ; Morning Light, 
New Woodstock ; Clockville ; Madison ; South Brookfield ; 
West Eaton ; Chittenango; Nelson Flats; Perryville; Brook-- 
field Central, Clarksville ; Poolville; Dundee, Oneida Valley. 

Madison County Musical Society, was organized about 
1830, having for its object, improvement in sacred music. 
The public meetings of the Society, held at different points 
in the county, were addressed by eminent speakers, and the 
popularity of their concerts drew large and enthusiastic 
audiences. The name of S. Glidden was popular among 
them as a leader and teacher of vocal music. From among 
the ofiicers who served in this society we give the follow- 



MADISON COUNTY. I43 

ing names : Dr. Onisimus Mead, Nelson ; Roswell Thomp- 
son, Eaton ; Eli Buell, Hamilton ; Wm. L. Palmer, Lenox ; 
Dr. John Putnam, Madison ; Hiram C. Paddock, Fenner ; 
Oren Stephens, Smithfield ; Elijah Buell, Lebanon ; Alfred 
Goodrich, Cazenovia ; Gurdon Hall, Georgetown ; Moses 
Parmlee, Sullivan ; Hosea Clark, Brookfield ; Thomas C. 
Nye, De Ruyter. , 

To the above names is added Alexander Simpson of 
Eaton. 

The recent County Musical Associations are a revival of 
the same spirit in the sons and daughters of the old mu- 
sicians of Madison County. 

Madison County Union Sabbath School Association 
was organized September 26th, 1866. Years previous there 
had been a Sabbath School Union Society, which had an ex- 
istence of several years' duration. This sowed the seed 
which blossomed in the present organization. First officers 
of the present Association, James Barnett, Peterboro, Pres- 
ident ; Frank Phelps, Cazenovia ; James Walrath, Chitte- 
nango ; Rev. D. McFarland, Oneida, and Rev. M. S. Hard, 
Morrisville, Vice Presidents ; C. D. Rose, Hamilton, Re- 
cording Secretary ; L. P. Clark, Morrisville, Corresponding 
Secretary ; Jonathan Wells, Morrisville, Treasurer. 

The present officers are : J. D. Avery, Hamilton, Presi- 
dent ; Rev. B. W. Hamilton, Canastota, Recording Secre- 
tary. 

MADISON county PROCEEDINGS FROM I 8o6 TO I 8 10. 

At the first general election held in and for the county 
of Madison, Erastus Cleaveland of Madison, and Sylvanus 
Smalley of Sullivan, were elected Members of Assembly 
over Jonathan Morgan of Brookfield, and John W. Bulkley 
of Hamilton. 

The first county officers, including Justices of the Peace, 
were appointed by the " Council of Appointments," and 
were as follows : — 



144 MADISON COUNTY. 

Cotunoii Picas Judges. — S)'lvanus Smalley, Sullivan ; 
Peter Smith of Peterboro ; Edward Green of Brookfield ; 
Elisha Payne of Hamilton ; David Cook of Sullivan. 

Sheriff — Jeremiah Whipple, Cazenovia. 

Under Sheriff — Levi Love, Hamilton. 

County Clerk — Asa B. Sizer, Hamilton. 

Deputy Clerk — Samuel Sizer, jr., Hamilton. 

Surrogate — Thomas H. Hubbard, Hamilton. 

Coroner — Jabish N. M. Hurd, Cazenovia. 

At this time there were only five towns in Madison 
county, viz : — Brookfield, Cazenovia, De Ruyter, Hamilton 
and Sullivan. The justices appointed for these towns 
were : — 

Oliver Brown, Daniel Maine, Henry Clark, jr., Jonathan 
Morgan, Samuel Marsh and Edward Green, Brookfield ; Da- 
vid Tuthill, Samuel S. Breese, Phineas Southwell, Perry G. 
Childs, Elisha Williams, Daniel Petrie, William Powers and 
Joshua Hamlin, Cazenovia ; Eli Gage, Hubbard Smith and 
Eleazer Hunt, De Ruyter ; Joseph Morse, Simeon Gillett, 
Benjamin Pierce, Erastus Cleaveland, Elisha Payne, Amos 
Maynard, Russell Barker, Geo. Crane, Winsor Coomar (now 
spelled Coman), Hamilton ; Gilbert Caswell, Samuel Foster, 
Walter Beecher, Joseph Frost, Sylvanus Smalley, Peter 
Smith, David Cook, William Hallock, James Campbell and 
Joseph Yeaw, of Sullivan. 

The first deed recorded in the Madison County Clerk's 
office, was from John Lincklaen of Cazenovia, and Gerrit 
Boon, " formerly of Oneida County," to Elisha Farnham of 
Cazenovia. The deed is dated April 5, 1806 ; acknow- 
ledged I\Iay 5, 1806, before Perry G. Childs, Esq., Master 
in Chancery, and w^as recorded on the 7th of May, 1806. 
The premises conveyed were about 54 acres of lot P. S. ot 
the 4th Allotment of New Petersburg, lying in the very 
heart of the present village of Cazenovia, and yet the con- 
sideration was but $648. 



MADISON COUNTY. I45 

The first supervisors^ were : Stephen Hoxie, Brookfield ; 
Lemuel Kingsbury, Cazenovia ; Jeremiah Gage, DeRuy- 
ter ; Erastus Cleaveland, Hamilton, and Jacob Patrick, Sul- 
livan. 

A Brigade had been formed in the county, under the 
command of General Jonathan Foreman. 

Among the Military officers in commission, in 1806, were 
Capt. Noyes Palmer, (afterwards Major-General) ; Capt. 
David Matthews of Sullivan ; Lieut. Ethan Clark of Leon- 
ardsville ; Ensign Oliver Clark of Lenox ; Ensign Peter 
Chappell of Hamilton, who were living a few years since. 
There were also Lieut. Oliver Babcock, and Adj't Phineas 
Babcock of Clarksville, brothers, who died in 1854. 

In 1807, several new towns were formed, and the list 
gives Brookfield, Cazenovia, DeRuyter, Eaton, Hamilton, 
Lebanon, Madison, Nelson, Smithfield and Sullivan, — ten 
instead of five towns. 

The two political parties of 1807, were Federals and Re- 
publicans (Democrats), and between them there was a 
desperate struggle for victory, it being supposed that the 
result of the election would fix the future political com- 
plexion of the county. That year, Sylvanus Smalley, Dem- 
ocrat, and John W. Bulkley, Federalist, were elected to 
Assembly, making it a drawn battle. Peter Smith was ap- 
pointed First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and 
Oliver Brown appointed Common Pleas Judge in the place 
of Judge Cook. 

Judges Smith and Brown were both decided Federalists, 
and warm supporters of Governor Lewis in opposition to 
Daniel D. Tompkins, and were doubtless appointed in con- 
sideration of their political services, yet at that period, the 
judiciary when once appointed, were comparatively free 
from political influences. 

Henry Clark, jr., Brookfield ; Elisha Williams, Cazeno- 
via ; Robert Avery, Eaton ; John Hall, Hamilton ; John 
J 



146 MADISON COUNTY. 

W. Bulkley, Lebanon ; Amos W. Fuller and Stephen F, 
T ackstone, Madison ; John Dorrance, Asa Dana and San- 
ford G. Calvin, Smithfield, and Jacob Patrick, Sullivan, were 
appointed Justices of the Peace for the year 1807. 

The Military Commissions were as follows : Nathaniel 
King of Hamilton, Brigadier General ; Zebulon Douglass 
of Sullivan and Nathaniel Collins, Lieutenant Colonels ; 
Amos Maynard and Erastus Cleaveland of Madison, Majors ; 
Daniel Petrie of Smithfield, William Hallock of Sullivan, 
Jacob Balcom, Nathan Crandall and Gaylord Stevens, Cap- 
tains ; Daniel Olin, Roswell Hutchins, Ambrose Andrews, 
Timothy Brown, Nicholas Woolaver, Benjamin Wilber, Seth 
Miner, Charles Huntington, William Bradley, Jabez Lyon, 
Daniel Jones, Stephen Lee, Samuel Rawson, Asa Randall, 
Oliver Clark and Sylvester Clark, Lieutenants ; Pardon 
Barnard, Martin Lamb, William Abercrombie, Gilbert Reed, 
Albert Beecher, Jonathan Nye, John Chambers, Elihu 
Foote, Stephen Clark, jr., and Thomas Wylie, Ensigns ; 
M ses H. Cook, Adjutant ; Asahel Prior, Surgeon. 

The election of 1808, gave Sylvanus Smalley the place of 
State Senator, and Daniel Van Home, John W. Bulkley 
and Oliver Brown a seat in the Assembly. The State 
" Council of Appointments," being Democratic at this period, 
placed in office the following for this County : 

yudges of the Court of Common Pleas: — Erastus Cleave- 
land of Madison, and Hubbard Smith of DeRuyter. 

Justices of the Peace: — David Waterman, Brookfield ; 
Elisha Farnham, Samuel Ackley and William Card, Caze- 
novia ; Daniel Alvord and Josiah Purdy, DeRuyter ; John 
Pratt, Eaton ; Daniel Smith and Eleazer Sweatland, Ham- 
ilton ; Amos Maynard, Amos Burton and Gilbert Stebbins, 
Madison ; Isaac Bumpus, Ebenezer Lyon and David Wel- 
lington, Nelson ; Daniel M. Gillett, Wright Brigham, David 
Tuttle, Thomas Dibble and Joshua Hamlin, Smithfield ; 
John Lee and John Knowles, Sullivan. 



MADISON COUNTY. 



147 



It is believed that the following persons were Supervisors 
for the year 1808 : Jonathan Morgan, Brookfield ; Elipha- 
let S. Jackson, Cazenovia ; Eli Gage, DeRuyter ; David 
Gaston, Eaton ; Reuben Ransom, Hamilton ; John W. 
Bulkley, Lebanon ; Erastus Cleaveland, Madison ; Ebenezer 
Lyon, Nelson : Asa Dana, Smithfield ; Jacob Patrick, Sul- 
livan. 

Congress had, in the year 1808, placed an embargo upon 
all American shipping. This bore hard upon the northern 
and middle States, particularly upon the State of New York, 
which, at that period, was the greatest grain producing 
State of the Union, by preventing the exportation of her 
surplus grain. The Federalists denounced the embargo, 
and in the State election of April, 1809, this party 
succeeded in both County aad State. For this county, 
Daniel Van Home, John W. Bulkley and Amos B. Fuller, 
Federalists, were elected to Assembly by a large majority. 
But the incumbent "Council uf Appointments" was con- 
tinued through the year, and which, being nearly all Dem- 
ocrats, only the following apj ointments were made for this 
year : 

Samuel Marsh, Brookfield, Judge of Common Pleas ; 
Dennison Palmer, Brookfield, Coroner. 

Justices of the Peace: — Samuel Livermore, Charles L. 
Usher and Samuel Marsh, Brookfield ; Philip Wager, Ros- 
well Harrison and Chauncey Butler, Sullivan. 

Sylvanus Beckwith of Hamilton, was appointed a Lieu- 
tenant, and Zenas Nash and Rufus Skeel of Hamilton, En- 
signs. 

In February, 18 10, the Council of Appointments was 
again changed, and being composed of a majority of Fed- 
eralists, the following appointments were made for this 
county : 

Common Pleas Judges. — Oliver Brown of Brookfield, 
Stephen ¥. Blackstone of Madison, Jeremiah Gage of 



148 MADISON COUNTY. 

DeRuyter, and James Green, in place of Judges Smalley, 
Cleaveland, Edward Green and Hubbard Smith, removed. 

Sheriff. — William Hatch, in place of Jeremiah Whipple. 

Coroners. — Samuel Woods jr., Madison ; Myndert Wemple, 
Sullivan ; John D. Blish, Hamilton, and Daniel Russell, 
DeRuyter. 

jfusticcs of the Peace. — Ezra Sexton, James McElwain, 
Daniel Watson and William Russell, DeRuyter ; Robert 
Henry and James Pratt, Eaton ; Ezra Fuller and Erastus 
Daniels, Hamilton ; John Sheldon, Josiah Lasell and Elisha 
Wheeler, Labanon ; Nathaniel Hall and Ichabod S. 
Spencer, Lenox ; Levi Morton and Seth Blair, Madison ; 
David Cook, Asa Dana and Nehemiah Huntington, Smith- 
field ; David Beecher of Sullivan. 

Thus the reader obtains a glimpse of the management of 
civil affairs under the first constitution, when the cele- 
brated " Council of Appointments," controlled in so many 
departments. 

The various changes made, and the selection of men by 
the people of our county, may be seen in the following 
civil list : — 

CIVIL LIST, 

yudges of Madison County Courts. 

First, Judge Peter Smith, Peterboro, appointed June 10. 1807. 
Served till 1821. 

Judge, Justin Dwinnell, Cazenovia, appointed Feb. 7, 1823 
" James B. Eldridge, Hamilton, " Mar. 16, 1833 
" John B. Yates, Chittenango, " Mar. 16, 1836 

" Thomas Barlow, Canastota, " Jan. 24, 1843 

" James W. Nye, Hamilton, " June. — 1847 

" Sidney T. Holmes, Morrisville, " Nov. — 185 i 

" Joseph Mason, Hamilton, " Nov. — 1863 

Sylvanus Smalley was Judge when Madison County was 

formed in 1806. 

Surrogates of Madison County. 

Judge, T. H. Hubbard, Hamilton, appointed Mar. 26, 1806. 
" Asa B. Sizer, Madison, " Feb, 26, 18 16. 

" John G. Stower, Hamilton, " Feb, 19, 1821. 

" Otis P. Granger, Morrisville, " Apr. 13,1827. 



MADISON COUNTY. 



149 



Judge Jas. B. Eldridge, Hamilton, appointed Feb. 18, 1840. 

" James W. Nye, Hamilton, " Feb. 18, 1844. 

" Chas. L. Kennedy, Morrisville, elected Nov. — 1867. 

re-elected " 1871. 
Judge of the Court of Appeals, Charles Mason of Hamilton, 
appointed Jan. 20, 1868; he still continues in the office. 

Sheriffs of Madison County. 

Jeremiah Whipple, Cazenovia, appointed Mar. 26, 

William Hatch, " " Mar. 5, 

Jeremiah Whipple, " " Feb. 5, 

Elijah Pratt, Smithfield, " Mar. 25, 

John Matteson, Nelson, " Feb. 28, 

Moses Maynard, Madison, " Mar. 2, 

Ezra Cloyes, Morrisville, " Feb. 19, 

Ezra Cloyes, Morrisville, elected Nov. 

Ezekiel Carpenter, Cazenovia, " " 

Pardon Barnard, Lenox, " " 

Joseph S. Palmer, Lenox, " " 

Thomas Wylie, Lebanon, " " 

John M. Messenger, Smithfield, " " 

Isaac Brown, Brookfield, " " 

Samuel French, Sullivan, " " 

William B. Brand, Brookfield, " 

Francis F. Stevens, Eaton, " " 

Stephen M. Potter, Cazenovia, " " 

Milton Barnett, Smithfield, " " 

Sanford P. Chapman, Lenox, " " 

William F. Bonney, Eaton, " " 

Asahel C. Stone, Smithfield, " " 

Andrew J. French, Morrisville, " " 

Edwin R. Barker, Morrisville, " " 

County Clerks. 

Asa B. Sizer, Madison, appointed March, 26, 



Samuel S. Foreman, Cazenovia, 
Josiah N. M. Hurd, Cazenovia, 
Bennett Bicknell, Morrisville, 
Bennett Bicknell, Morrisville, 
John G. Curtis, 
Andrew Scott Sloan, 
Alexander Donaldson, jr., 
Lewison Fairchild, Cazenovia, 



Feb. 



5, 
28, 
19, 
elected Nov. 



elected 


Nov. 


1843 


(( 




1846 


•( 




1849 


(( 




1852 


(( 




1855 


« 




1858 


« 




1861 


« 




1864 


(( 




1867 


« 




1870 



150 MADISON COUNTY. 

Zadoc T. Bentley, DeRuyter, 
Andrew S. Sloam, 
Lorenzo D. Dana, Fenner, 
Lucius P. Clark, Morrisville, 
William E. Lansing, Chittenango, 
Charles L. Kennedy, Morrisville, 
Loring Fowler, Morrisville, 
Calvin Whitford, Brookfield, 
Nathan Brownell, Hamilton, 
Alfred D. Kennedy, Lenox, 

County Treasurers. 

Since 1848. [The author has been unable to get this 
further back.] 

Clark Tillinghast, Morrisville, 
Lyman M. Kingman, 
Henry F. Williams, 
Alexander M. Holmes, Morrisville, 
David F. Payson, Eaton, 
Charles T. Bicknell, Morrisville, 

District Attorneys. 

Daniel Kellogg, Sullivan, app( 

Thomas H. Hubbard, Hamilton, 

(( u « 

William K. Fuller, Chittenango, 
Philo Gridley, Hamilton, 
Justin Dwinnell, Cazenovia, 
Charles Mason, Hamilton, 
Henry C. Goodwin, Hamilton, 
William E. Lansing, Chittenango, 
David J. Mitchell, Hamilton, 
Asahel C. Stone, Smithfield, 
Albert N. Sheldon, Hamilton, 
Delos W. Cameron, Cazenovia, 
Lambert B. Kern, DeRuyter, 
Alexander Cramphin, Morrisville, 

State Senators from Madison Connty. 

Sylvanus Smalley, Lenox, Western Dist, 1809-10-1 1-12 

Bennett Bicknell, Morrisville, " 1815-16-17-18 

Thomas Greenly, Hamilton, 5th Dist. 1823-4-5 

Charles Stebbins, Cazenovia, " 1826-7-8-9 



elected Nov, 


, 1848 


(( 




1851 


« 




1854 


<( 




i860 


« 




1866 


« 




1869 


nted Feb. 


30, 


1809 


<< 


26, 


1816 


June 


II, 


1818 


March 


26, 


1821 
1829 




— 


1837 
1845 






elected Nov. 


1847 


<( 




1850 


« 




1853 


" ! 




1856 


<( 




1859 


(( 




1862 


<( 




1865 


(( 


<( 


1868 



MADISON COUNTY. I5I 

John G. Stower, Hamilton, 5th Dist 1833-4-5 

Joseph Clark, Brookfield, " 1839-40- 1-2 

Thomas Barlow, Canastota, " 1844-5-6-7 

Asahel C. Stone, Peterboro, 23d Dist. 1850 

Simon C. Hitchcock, Cazenovia, " 1854-5 

John J. Foote, Hamilton, " 1858-9 

James Barnett, Smithfield, " 1866-7 

Members of Congress from Madison County, 

Williams. Smith, Lebanon, 17th Dist. 18 13-15 

1815-17 
Thomas H. Hubbard, Hamilton, " 18 17-19 

1821-23 
Justin Dwinnell, Cazenovia, 22d Dist. 1823-25 

John G. Stower, Hamilton, " 1827-29 

Thomas Beekman, Peterboro, " 1829-31 

William K. Fuller, Chittenango, 23d Dist. 1833-35 

1835-37 
Bennett Bicknell, Morrisville, " 1837-39 

Edward Rogers, Madison, " 1839-41 

Lawrence A. Foster, Morrisville, " 1841-43 

William J. Hough, Cazenovia, " 1845-47 

* Gerrit Smith, Peterboro, 22d Dist. 1853-54 

Henry C. Goodwin, Hamilton, fill vacancy, " 1854-55 

1857-59 
William E. Lansing, Chittenango, " 1861-63 

Sidney T. Holmes, Morrisville, " 1865-67 

Members of Assembly from Madison County. 
Town of Brookfield. — Stephen Hoxie, [for Chenango 
County,] 1803; Stephen Hoxie, 1804; Oliver Brown, 
1808-9, ^^d ii^ 1816; Henry Clark, 181 1 and 1822 ; Den- 
nison Palmer, 1819 ; Joseph Clark, 1824 and in 1828; 
John Davis, 1833 ; Joseph Clark, again in 1835 ; Wait 
Clark, 1837; Thomas Keith, 1844; John T. G.Bailey, 
1848 ; Dennis Hardin, 1853 ; William H. Brand, 1862 and 
1863 ; David L. Fisk, 1870. 

Cazenovia. — Jonathan Foreman, [for Chenango Co.,] 
1 801 ; James Green, [for Chenango Co.,] 1803 ; Luther 
Waterman, [for Chenango Co.,] 1804 and 1805 ; Justin 
Dwinnell, 1820-21, and in 1822 ; Jacob Ten Eyck, 1826; 
Lemuel White, 1827; John Williams, 1829; Jesse Kil- 

"* Resigned. 



152 MADISON COUNTY. 

bourn, 1833 ; William J. Hough, 1835 and 1836; Simeon 
C. Hitchcock, 1842 ; Stephen M.Potter, 1846; Thomas 
O. Bishop, 1850; Thomas P. Bishop, 1857; Lester M. 
Case, 1858 ; George L. Rouse, 1863. 

DeRuyter. — James Nye, 1818 ; Elias P. Benjamin, 
1825 ; James Nye, 1825 ; Benjamin Enos, 1834, also in 
1839 and 1840 ; Stephen G. Sears, 1845; David Maine, 
1849; Simeon Rider, 1859; Joseph W, Merchant, 1869. 

Eaton. — Bennett Bicknell, 1812 ; John D. Henry, 1812 
and 181 3 ; Windsor Coman, 1814 and 181 5 ; Robert 
Henry, 183 1 ; Uriah Leland, 1839; Calvin Morse, 1842; 
Albert G. Purdy, 1857 ; Gardiner Morse, 1866. 

Fenner. — Daniel M. Gillett, 1823; Herman Van Vleck, 
1820 and 21 [for Smithfield] ; Daniel M. Gillett, 1832; 
Sardis Dana, 1834; Ralph I.Gates, 1844; Francis A. 
Hyatt. 1 86 1. 

Georgetown. — Stephen B. Hoffman, 1831 ; William F. 
Bostwick, 1838; Horace Hawks, 1846; John Clark, 1850; 
Alfred A. Brown, 1865. 

Hamilton. — ^Samuel Payne, [for Chenango Co.,] 1804 ; 
Samuel Payne, 1806; Jonathan Olmstead, 1812 and 1813 ; 
James B. Eldridge, 1816, 1817; Jonathan Olmstead, 1816 
and 181 7 ; Thomas Greenly, 1818 and 18 19; Amos 
Crocker, 1820 ; Thomas Dibble, 1826; James B. Eldredge, 
1827 and in 1829 ; William Lord, 1838 ; Seneca B. Burch- 
ard, 1841 ; Lorenzo Sherwood, 1843 ; Henry L. Webb, 
1852; Gilbert Tompkins, 1855 ; Orrin B. Lord, 1861 ; D. 
Gerry Wellington, 1867. 

Lenox. — Sylvanus Smalley, 1806 and 1807, also in 1808 ; 
Nathan Hall, jr., 1816; Pardon Barnard, 1822; Thomas 
Spencer, 1824; Sylvester Beecher, 1827; John Whitman, 
1831 ; Nehemiah Batchelor, 1832 ; Jason W. Powers, 1835 ; 
Silas Sayles, 1837 ; Daniel Van Vleck, 1841 ; Venoni W. 
Mason, 1843 ; Thomas T. Loomis, 1846 ; George B. Rowe, 
1852 ; Franklin M. Whitman, 1854; Aaron Brush, 1855 ; 
John Snow, 1856 ; Albert G. Purdy, 1862 ; Benjamin F. 
Bruce, 1867 ; Leonard C.Kilham, 1868 and 1869, and 1870. 

Lebanon. — John W. Bulkley, 1808, 1809, 18 10 and 1811 ; 
Curtis Hoppin, 1823; Ephriam Gray, 1836 ; Henry Palmer, 
1843; Franklin B. Hoppin, 1851 ; David Clark, i860; 
Bushrod E. Hoppin, 1867. 



MADISON COUNTY. 153 

Madison. — Erastus Cleaveland, 1807 ; Amos B. Fuller, 
18 10; Stephen F. Blackstone, 18 14; Moses Maynard, 18 16 
and 1817 ; David Woods, 1818 ; Levi Morton, 1820 ; Wm. 
Berry, jr., 1820 and 1821 ; Rutherford Barker, 1823 ; Wm. 
Manchester, 1830; John Head, 2d, 1832; Erastus Cleave- 
land, 1833 ; Isaac Coe, 1837; Daniel Barker, 1840; Geo. 
W. Taylor, 1847 i Samuel White, 2d, 1854 and 1856 ; John 
W. Lippett, 1864. 

Nf.lson. — Eliphalet S. Jackson, 1816 and 1820; Eri 
Richardson, 1828; Onisemus Mead, 1838; Oliver Pool, 
1841 ; Alfred Medbury, 1844 ; Wesley M. Carpenter, 1868. 

Sullivan. — Daniel Van Horn, 1808, 1809 and 1810; 
Zebulon Douglass, 181 1 ; Walter Beecher, 18 12 and 181 3 ; 
David Beecher, 1814 and 1815 ; Solomon Beebe, 1819 ; 
John Knowles, 1828; William K. Fuller, 1829 and 1830; 
John B. Yates, 1836; Friend Barnard, 1839; Job Wells, 
1842; John I. Walrath, 1845; Peter VanValkenburg, 
1847 ; George Grant, 1848 ; Jerius French, 185 1 ; Robert 
Stewart, 1858; Daniel P\ Kellogg, 1864; Robert Stewart, 
I867. 

Smithfield. — Elisha Carrington, 18 14; Nehemiah 
Huntington, 1825 and 1826; John M. Messenger, 1830 ; 
Daniel Dickey, 1840 ; Robert G. Stewart, 1849; James 
Barnett, i860 ; Caleb Calkins, 1866. 

Stockbridge. — Henry T. Sumner, 1834 ; William Smith, 
1845; Marsena Temple, 1853; Noah M. Coburn, 1859 ; 
Alvin Strong, 1865. 

Delegates to Convention to Revise Constitutions. 
In 1822, Barak Beckwith, Cazenovia ; John Knowles, Chit- 
tenango ; Edward Rogers, Madison. In 1846, Benjamin F. 
Bruce, Lenox ; Federal Dana, Fenner. In 1867, Lester M. 
Case, Cazenovia ; Loring Fowler, Canastota. 

Presidential Electors from Madison County. 
President, James Madison, 1808 ; William Hallock. Presi- 
dent, James Madison, 1812 ; Thomas Hubbard, Hamilton. 
President, James Munroe, 1820; Elisha Farnham. 
President, Zachery Taylor, 1848; Oliver Pool, Nelson. 
President, Abraham Lincoln, i860; John J. Foote, Hamil- 
ton. President, Abraham Lincoln, 1864; Robert Stewart, 
Chittenango. 



154 MADISON COUNTY. 

MADISON COUNTY COURTS, 

The first Court of Record held in Madison County, was 
a Court of General Session, " holden at the School House 
near David Barnard's in Sullivan, on Tuesday the 3rd day 
of June, 1806. Present — The Honorable Sylvanus 
Smalley, Peter Smith, Edward Green, Elisha Payne and 
David Cook, Esquires and Judges. 

Grand Jurors : — Lemuel Kingsbury, gentleman, fore- 
man ; Samuel Thomas, Elisha Carey, Oreb Montague, 
Joshua Herrington, Rufus Pierson, John Needham, Wil- 
liam Whitman, Joel Doolittle, George Ballou, Ebenezer 
Johnson, Abner Badger, Aaron Putney, Samuel Griggs, 
Phineas Dodge, David Barnard, Jacob Patrick, Elisha Starr, 
David Woodworth. 

" John Matteson and Daniel Barber, constables to wait on 
the Grand Jury." 

" The Grand Jury, after retiring and finding no present- 
ments, returned and were discharged by the Court. 

The Court adjourned without day. A. B. Sizer, Clerk." 

The October term of this court, the same year, was held 
at the School House near the house of Elisha Payne in 
Hamilton. Present — The Honorable Peter Smith, Elisha 
Payne, Edward Green and David Cook, " Esquires and 
Justices of the Peace." William Hatch was appointed crier 
of the Court. " Ordered that this Court adjourn to the 
meeting house and convene forthwith." 

Grand Jurors : — Stephen F. Blackstone, foreman ; John 
Hoxie, Stephen Crumb, Daniel H. Coon, Paul Palmer, Seth 
Holmes, Thomas Leach, David Walters, Edward Newton, 
Samuel McClure, Levi Mantor, David Peebles, Ezra Fuller, 
Richard Butler, Oliver S. Wilcoxon, John Shapley, William 
McClenathan, Archibald Bates, Isaac Warren, Caleb Allen, 
Joseph Cooley, Ebenezer Corbin, Samuel Howard and 
David Barber. 

It was — "Ordered, the seal procured by the Clerk, with 
the device of suspended scales, beneath which a sceptre 
lying horizontally, entwined by a serpent, a star in the 
center of the whole, and the whole encircled with ' Mad- 
ison Co7miy, incorporated in 1806,' be, and it is hereby the 
seal of this Court." No further business of any note was 
transacted at this term. 



MADISON COUNTY. I55 

CAPITAL TRIALS AND CONVICTIONS. 

Madison County Oyer and Terminer, July 3rd, 1807. 
This was the first session of this court held in this county, 
and was held in the school-house near David Barnard's, in 
Sullivan. Present, Hon. William W. Van Ness, Judge of 
the Supreme Court, Peter Smith, Judge of Madison 
County, Elisha Payne and David Cook, Assistant Justices. 

Grand Jurors present, Jonathan Morgan, foreman ; Tim- 
othy Gillett, jr., Isaac Ingersoll, Isaac Morse, Samuel 
Thomas, Jabez Abel, Elisha Starr, Timothy Brown, Elisha 
Farnham, Allen Dryer, jr., Elisha Severance, Dennison 
Palmer, Samuel Marsh, George Dalrymple, Erastus Cleave- 
land, Wright Brigham, Daniel Petrie, Abraham Mattoon, 
Ephriam Bliss. Robert Avery, Barry Carter, James D, 
Cooledge, John Marble. 

It was ordered that this court adjourn to the barn of 
Sylvan»us Smalley, and convene forthwith. The celebrated 
Hitchcock case was to be tried, hence this order. Griffin 
Watkins and John Leet, constables, were each fined two , 
dollars for non-attendance ; Eli F. Hill, juror, was fined 
two dollars for non-attendance. The first indictment, the 
people against Daniel R. Baxter, for assault and battery, 
was speedily disposed of, but little action being taken in the 
case, and the prisoner discharged. 

The following indictment was presented by the Grand 
Jury: 

The People ] Indicted 

agt. V for 

Alpheus Hitchcock, j Murder. 

The prisoner plead not guilty. The court adjourned till 
six o'clock A.M., July 4th. The trial came on July the 4th. 
Thomas R, Gold was counsel for the prisoner. The petit 
jurors sworn this day, were : — Jeremiah Gage, Ebenezer 
Caulkins, John Anguish, Jabez Crocker, Thomas Marvin, 
David Barrett, James Tucker, James Gault, Caleb Allen, 
Amos Hill, John Barber, Joseph Smith. 

The charge against Hitchcock was, that he had on the 
6th day of April, 1807, procured poison and administered it 
to his wife, with intent to kill, and which had produced her 
death in a few hours. 



156 MADISON COUNTY. 

The witnesses sworn for the people were : — Prudence 
Stacy, Elijah Putnam, Samuel Barber, Betsey Barber, Levi 
Love, Asa B. Sizer, Jonathan Pratt, Ezra Woodworth, Su- 
sannah Woodworth, Francis Guitteau, Moses Maynard, 
Wm. P. Simmons, Abraham W. Sedgewick and Lucy 
Bailey. Witnesses for the prisoner, Isaac Goodsell, Eph- 
riam Clough, and Jacob Phelps. 

The jury returned a verdict of "guilty," whereupon the 
court sentenced Alpheus Hitchcock to be hung on Friday 
the ensuing nth of September, between the hours of one 
and three. This sentence was carried out, and he was hung 
in the village of Cazenovia, the gallows being erected at the 
east of the village, on the present farm of Mr. Parsons. 
This was the first execution in Madison County. It was 
made a public affair. Jeremiah Whipple was Sheriff 

[A few days previous to the murder, the great April snow 
storm of that year had prevailed. The 6th day of April 
(Sunday) the inhabitants turned out to clear the roads, the 
storm having ceased on Saturday. Hitchcock was one of 
the party, helping to clear the roads between where he lived 
(the Center) and the Corners (Madison Village). Having 
done their labor, the party dispersed to their several homes ; 
Hitchcock, however, before going to his, called on the phy- 
sician at the drug store at the " Corners," and purchased 
the arsenic with which he that evening poisoned his wife. 
At ten o'clock that night she lay a corpse in his house. 
Remembrance of the great storm, and this atrocious mur- 
der, was ever after associated, and the people called it the 
" Great Hitchcock Snow Storm." Hitchcock was a singing 
school teacher, and had fallen in love with one of his pupils, 
Lois Andrus, and took this diabolical course to rid himself 
of his wife. When Hitchcock stood upon the scaffold, await- 
ing the adjustment of the fatal noose, it is said he requested 
that the hymn, " Show pity, Lord ! O Lord forgive," be 
sung in his favorite tune, " Brookfield." His wish was 
granted, and he was launched into eternity.] 

TRIAL OF MARY ANTONE. 

The records in the County Clerk's Office in reference to 
this criminal case are very meagre. The name of the mur- 
deress is given, Mary Anthony instead of Mary Antone. 
The name of the girl murdered by her is not given. How- 



MADISON COUNTY. I57 

ever, Mary Antone was tried and hung for the murder of an 
Indian girl. The records are as follows : 

" Madison Oyer and Terminer, convened at the Court 
House in Cazenovia, on the 27th day of June, 18 14. Pres- 
ent, Hon. Jonas Piatt, Justice of Supreme Court ; Peter 
Smith, First Judge of Madison County Common Pleas. 

Wm. Hopkins, ) Assistant 
Jonas Fay, j Judges. 

The Trial commenced June 28th. 
The People 
vs. • 
Mary Anthony 

alias 
Polly Anthony. 

Jurors Sworn : Reubin Bryan, Artemus Inman, 
Glover Short, Jesse Taylor, Samuel Chubbuck, Shaler 
Fyler, Isaac Morton, ElialD Perkins, Jason Leason, Nathan 
Smith, Ruggles Payne, Russell Barker, 2d. 

Witnesses for the people : William Stone, John Myer ; 
one paper read in evidence [undoubtedly from John Jacobs,] 
John C. Payne, Joseph B. Peck, Samuel P. Pierce. 

Witnesses for prisoner : Adam Jordon, interpreter, Peggy 
Abraham, Peter Smith. 

June 29th, sentenced to be hung on the 30th of Septem- 
ber, at 10 o'clock, A. M. 

Mary Antone was accordingly hung at Peterboro, the 30th 
day of September, 18 14. 

Madison County Oyer and Terminer, held at Morrisville, 
July 2nd, 1823, Judge Williams presiding. 
The People j 
vs > 

Abram Antone. ) 

Judge Jonas Piatt and General Joseph Kirkland were ap- 
pointed by the court, counsel for the prisoner. 

Antone was first indicted before the Court of Sessions in 
181 5, for the murder of John Jacobs. 

The following persons composed the jury : Matthew B. 
Brooks, Oliver Whipple, James Clarke, Stephen B. Hoff- 
man, Lewis Stanley, Luther Smith, Eben Ayer, Joseph 
Tucker, jr., Isaac Bumpus, Shubal F. Bunker, Timothy B. 
Chidsey, Daniel Warren. 



158 MADISON COUNTY. 

Witnesses for the people : Mary Doxtater, Nicholas Jor- 
don, Eunice Abrams, Jonathan Buna, Susannah Seth, 
Jno. Quincy. Witness sworn as interpreter, J. Dana. 

Jno. Quincey and Allen Dryer were constables. 

The prisoner plead " Not Guilty." The witnesses 
against him were principally uncultivated sons of the forest. 
But it was remarked that their testimony was given with a 
carefulness and precision scarcely to be expected. The 
testimony was clear and decisive. The counsel rested their 
defense altogether on this, " that the State of New York 
has no jurisdiction over the Indian tribes within her terri- 
tory." The court, however, overruled the objection. The 
prisoner had always objected to a trial except by his own 
people. He said he had paid 1^270 to the different tribes as 
a ransom, and thought it hard that he sholild die when he 
had made his peace with the Indians. Two or three tribes 
sent in petitions praying for his release, but the Oneidas, 
of which tribe he was said by some to have been a Chief, 
neglected it. This was said by some to be owing to the 
head Chief who was Antone's enemy. Without doubt, the 
Indians generally would have been glad of his release, 
though it is certainly a very singular circumstance that the 
same ones who volunteered in pursuit of him after the mur- 
der of John Jacobs, and to whom he was always an object 
of dread and fear, should turn and petition for him. The 
nations, however, did not generally assent to our jurisdic- 
tion over them, and they undoubtedly petitioned on thar 
principle. The murder and the circumstances connected 
with it, are given in a biographical sketch drawn from a 
pamphlet published after his execution, wherein is obtained 
a glimpse of the character of one who was once the terror 
of all Madison County. The intensity of feeling which this 
trial produced between the two races, white and red, showed 
that it involved principles reaching beyond the fact of his 
having indulged a barbarous nature in destroying a fellow 
creature. It was the culminating strife between the ele- 
ments of barbarism and civilization, and became the death 
struggle of barbarism in this region. (Note a.) 
Madison Oyer and Terminer, March 27th, 1839." 

Present: Hon. Robert Monell, Circuit Judge of the 6th 
Circuit ; E. Rogers, B. Beckwith, E. Holmes and H. G. 
Warner, Esqrs., Judges of the County Courts. 



MADISON COUNTY. I59 

■*; The People ) Indicted for the murder of 

vs > Robert Barber on the 30th 

Lewis Wilber. ) day of August, 1837. 

Counsel for the Prosecution : J. Dwinnell (District Attor- 
ney), B. D. Noxon and T. Jenkins, Esqrs. 

Counsel for the Prisoner: J. A. Spencer and A. L. Foster, 
Esqrs. 

The following Jury were empanneled for the trial of the 
cause : Conradt H. Cooper, Joseph C. Spencer, Ichabod S. 
Francis, Dyer Saxton, John R. Burdwin, Charles D. Crut- 
tenden, Bradley Parlin, Thomas J. Whiting, Daison Has- 
kell, Ethan Bosworth, Benjamin C. Barton, Nathaniel C. 
Gregg. 

Lewis Wilbur was executed at Morrisville, October 3rd, 
1839. 

Madison Oyer and Terminer. 

October 21st, 1853. 
The People \ 

vs > Duane Brown, Att'y for prisoner. 

John Hadcock. ) 

For the murder of Mrs. Mary Gregg. 

Wm. E. Lansing, District Attorney. 

Jurors : Wm. R. Spencer, David Irish, John L. Walrath, 
Silas T. Filer, John Hovey, Lucius Spencer, Frederic H. 
Way, Adolphus Blair, Hiram H. Merchant, John W. John- 
son, Jacob Foland, Lewis Hamblin. 

Witnesses for the people : Susan S. Gregg, James Low, 
Ephriam K. Gregg, Julius Treat, Cornelius Antone, Tru- 
man Benedict, Anson Crane, Jonathan M. Wilson, Mc- 
Kenzie Sumner, Easton J. Hostler, Frederic Hodges, Ami- 
deus Hinman, Samuel Barr, W. B. Parmelee, Frederic Snell, 
Henry Newkirk, Sarah Green, Wm. Page. 

John Hadcock was sentenced to be hung December 21st, 
1853, between the hours often and twelve o'clock, a. m. 

There was an effort made through a petition of many 
persons, including the court which sentenced him, to effect 
a commutation of punishment to imprisonment for life in 
the State prison. The opinion being entertained by some 
that Hadcock was laboring under a species of insanity, and 
consequently not a fit subject for the gallows, the matter 
was laid before His Excellency, Governor Seymour, who 



l60 MADISON COUNTY. 

granted a month's stay of proceedings, and advised ttie 
summoning of a jury, inquiring into the facts before the 
Sheriff, to test the question. An order to that effect hav- 
ing been issued by District Judge Mason and concurred in 
by the County Judge, S. T. Hohnes, the following jury were 
summoned and sworn, viz : Francis Parsons, Israel Ward, 
John H. Fuller, Oliver W. Webster, Cazenovia ; Levi P. 
Greenwood, Joseph G. Norton, Powers R. Mead, Nelson ; 
Albert G. Purdy, Simeon Graham, David H. Phipps, Eaton ; 
George Warren, Georgetown, and Henry G. Beardsley, 
Hamilton. The inquisition commenced its session on the 
13th of February, 1854. S. M. Potter, Sheriff, Madison 
County, presiding. D. Brown, Esq., of Morrisville, and S. 
B. Garvin of Utica, were counsel for prisoner. D. J. Mitch- 
ell and H. C. Goodwin, Esqrs., for the people, 

John Potter, Jeremiah Cooper, Jonathan M. Foreman, 
John Gregg, Daniel Gordon, Abraham Gregg, Jeduthan 
Green, John Green, John Hadcock, Francis F, Stevens, J. 
M. Wilson, '^Charles L. Thompson, Dr. James Moore and 
Dr. Franklin T. Maybury, were witnesses sworn. 

After the examination of these witnesses the case was 
submitted to the jury, who, after deliberating on it two 
hours, returned saying they could not agree, and were dis- 
charged. The jury stood seven for, and five against the in- 
sanity of the prisoner. The Governor offered a further re- 
spite, if the District Judge should order another 
jury. As no such order was issued, the Sheriff was 
obliged to proceed in his duty, in carrying out the sentence 
which the court had passed upon the criminal. Accord- 
ingly the execution took place at a few moments before 1 1 
o'clock, on Friday morning of the 24th day of February, 
1854. 

There has been other murders in Madison County, and 
some of them have greatly agitated the public mind, but in 
some cases the supposed murderer has not been convicted, 
the trial resulting in acquittal. Such was the case in the 
murder of John Buck of Nelson, the accused bein 
William Zecker a German. 

Other cases, among them the shockins- murder of 



MADISON COUNTY. l6l 

Moses Johnson of Brookfield, in which no reliable clue to 
the murderer or murderers have been found. 

Still other cases have resulted in trial, the verdicts being, 
conviction for the different degrees of manslaughter, 
punishable by imprisonment in the State Prison, or confine- 
ment in the Asylum for insanity. The recent case of John 
Maxwell, who was sentenced to be hung, being of that class. 
Before the time set for his execution arrived, a petition 
from the Court which tried him, to the Governor, had the 
effect to obtain commutation of his sentence to imprison- 
ment for life, in the Auburn State Prison. 



1 62 MADISON COUNTY, 



C HAPTER II I. 



BROOKFIELD. 

Formation and Geography of the town. — History of the Clinton 
Purchase of Chenango Twenty Towns. — Incident. — The Carr 
farm of Edmeston. — Operations of Joseph Brant in this sec- 
tion in the days of the Revolution. — Stephen Hoxie and Dan- 
iel Brown, the Pioneers. — Incidents. — Company of Settlers in 
1792. — First mills. — Purchase of Michael Myers, Jedediah 
Sanger and John I. Morgan. — Anecdote of Encounter with a 
Bear. — Button's Hill Creek. — The Falls. — Romantic Scenery. 
-7-Old Family Burial Grounds. — First Improvements. — Early 
Hamlets in the hill districts. — Home Farm of John I. Morgan. 
— Babcock's mills. — Unadilla Forks. — Humorous anecdote. — 
Obituaries. — Sketches of Pioneers. — Leonardsville ; its enter- 
prises — Clarkville — North Brookfield. 

This town was formed from Paris, Oneida County, March 
5th, 1795. It originally embraced" townships 17, 18 and 
19, of Chenango Twenty Towns, and from the date of its 
formation till 1798 was a part of Herkimer County, From 
the latter date to 1806, it was a part of Chenango County. 
The 17th Township was taken off from Brookfield in 1805, 
to form Columbus, Chenango County. 

The town hes in the south-east corner of the county ; is 
bounded north by Sangerfield and Bridgewater, Oneida 
County, east by the Unadilla river, south by the Unadilla 
river and Columbus, Chenango County, and west by the 
towns of Hamilton and Madison. Its surface is hilly and 
broken ; it is traversed longitudinally by a succession of 
ridges almost mountainous in some sections. The high 



BROOKFIELD. 1 63 

hills and deep valleys are crossed and re-crossed by roads, 
the old Skaneateles turnpike passing directly through the 
town from east to west. Aiming at mathematical direct- 
ness, this broad highway may be seen from hill-top to hill- 
top, evading none ot the steep passes along its way. It 
need be no matter of wonder to any one, that Brookfield 
hills should have gained a notoriety almost world-wide, after 
having traveled this turnpike. Near the western line of 
the town, on the north side of this road, towers one of the 
loftiest summits of the hills, appropriately named " Round 
Top," from which one of the most extensive views can be 
obtained, the hills of seven counties rising to the vision. On 
a clear autumn day, when the keen wind had chased away 
the obscuring haze, we could distinctly trace with the naked 
eye the outlines of woodland and meadow which draped the 
hills of nearly all Madison County, as it lay like a panorama 
spread out before us. Far to the westward rose some of the 
lofty peaks of Onondaga, and blue hills of Cortland ; south- 
ward lay the long range of Chenango's bights ; at the east- 
ward the summits of Otsego and Herkimer, which, bordering 
the Unadilla, seemed strangely near ; while at the northward, 
some of the villages in Oneida County were, as if uncon- 
sciously, contributing brilliant settings to the gem-covered 
landscape. 

The Unadilla River is a beautiful stream, meandering 
through a rich and handsome valley. From the Forks 
southward, this water was once navigable for canoes. 
Beaver creek passing nearly through the center of the 
town, has a considerable fall, and is largely occupied by 
mill-seats along its whole length. Through the northwest 
corner of the town passes the most eastern branch of the 
Chenango. Several smaller streams, tributaries to these, 
traverse various sections of the town. The deep " Terry- 
town Swamp," so called, in which the Chenango branch 
has its rise, covers a portion of the northwest corner, 
which in the past has afforded an abundance of cedar tim- 



164 MADISON COUNTY. 

ber. The prevailing soil of the town is a gravelly loam, 
though slate and other rock formations, cropping out here 
and there among the hills, change its nature locally in some 
degree ; also, alluvial deposits enrich the valleys. 

The Unadilla river from the earliest dates was a favorite 
fishing stream for the Aborigines, and lay within the 
Oneida Nation. The "Oneida Path" which led to the 
river, came into Brookfield from the southeast corner of 
Sangerfield, passing the northeast corner of Terrytown 
Swamp, (called by the Indians Ska-na-vvis, or Great Svt'amp,) 
and led through this town to the Unadilla Forks. 

As we have seen, this township was Nos. 18 and 19, of 
the celebrated " Twenty Towns," or " Clinton Purchase," 
being a large tract of land lying partly in Chenango County, 
partly in Madison County, and a township in Oneida 
County, which were purchased of the Oneidas by Governcr 
George Clinton, in a treaty held at Fort Schuyler (Utica) 
in 1788. The sum paid for the tract was $5,500, in goods, 
money, and a grist mill, besides an annuity of $600. 
Although these things were wanted by the Indians, yet 
the wise heads of the Sachems foresaw the result of this 
wholesale cession of their lands. An incident is related 
which is said to have occurred when this treaty was made, 
aptly illustrating the final result of these treaties as they 
were to effect the Indian race. It was given by a sagacious 
Oneida Chief in the following practical manner: — 

After the sale had been duly ratified, and Governor Clin- 
ton was sitting upon a log, the Chief came and seated him- 
self very close by him. Out of courtesy the Governor 
moved along, when the Indian moved also, crowding still 
closer. The Governor then made another move ; the 
Indian hitched along again close to him ; and thus the 
moves were several times repeated, when at last Governor 
Clinton found himself off the log ! Being considerably non- 
plussed he requested the meaning of this curious operation. 
The Chief sagaciously replied : — "Just so white man 



BROOKFIELD. 165 

crowd poor Indian ; keep crowding ; keep crowding ; by 
and by crowd him clear off! where poor Indian then ?" 

Previous to this treaty, in the year 1785, a traveler passing 
through the locality where Leonardsville now is, found 
nothing but a well worn path, — a branch of the Oneida 
trail, — to guide his footsteps, while a miserable quagmire 
lay where the main street of that village now passes. 

We infer that the quiet of the Brookfield hills and dales 
was often, in that far off day, broken in upon by the wild 
habits of the natives as they traversed the forests, or pro- 
pelled their canoes and light batteaux upon the river. 
Joseph Brant and his followers often sailed upon the Una- 
dilla, even past the borders of Brookfield. Relics were 
found by the earliest settlers near the Forks, which go to 
show that that locality had been a place of rendezvous for 
his notorious band. Among other things of minor import- 
ance, a five-pail kettle, half full of wrought iron nails, rusted 
into one mass, was found under a log near the ford at that 
place. All appearances indicated that they had been there 
many years, and were undoubtedly a part of the plunder 
taken by the Indians in their depradations against the 
whites. 

The first saw mill at the Forks, (on the Plainfield side,) 
built by Capt. Caleb Brown, stood on the spot where, it 
is said, an Indian once murdered a white man. 

Upon the eastern shore of the Unadilla, opposite a portion 
of Brookfield, lay the Edmeston Estate. This was a large 
tract of land ceded to Col. Edmeston, a British officer in 
the French war of 1763.* About 1770, Col. Edmeston 
sent Percifer Carr, a faithful soldier who had served under 
him, to settle upon the estate. Mr. Carr and his wife with 
their servants, were for a long series of years the only white 
inhabitants of the Unadilla valley. During the Revolution, 
Mr, Carr, it is believed, was friendly to the British Govern- 

*The grant for this tract was obtained by Robert and William Edmeston, in 
1770. See map of Susquehanna and Delaware, Doc. Hist. Vol. i. 



l66 MADISON COUNTY, 

ment. The following letter by Brant to Mr. Carr, in the In- 
dian's own orthography, we extract from Campbell's Annals 
of Tryon County : 

"Tunadilla, (Unadilla,) July 6, 1777. 
M. Carr — Sir : I understand that 3''ou are a friend to 
Government With sum of the settlers at the Butternuts is 
the Reason of my applying to you & those people for some 
provisions and shall be glad you would send me what you 
can spare no matter what sorte for which you shall be paid 
you helping an account of the whole. 

from your friend 
& hum'le Servt, 

Joseph Brant." 
To M. Persafer Carr. 

That Mr. .Carr was in sympathy with the cause of his 
countrymen and against that of the Colonies, can hardly be 
doubted, though there is no account that he at any time 
actually engaged in the struggle pending. There is no 
doubt, however, about one thing ; that the Unadilla bore 
from this estate supplies to the British and Indian armies. 
The subjoined seems to confirm the view taken : — 

" Tunadilla, July 9, 1778. 

Sir : I understand by the Indians that was at your house 
last week, that one Smith lives near with you, has little 
more corn to spare. I should be much obliged to you. if 
you would be so kind as to try to get as much corn as 
Smith can spared, he has sent me five skipples already of 
wliich I am much obliged to him and will see him paid, and 
would be very glad if you could spare me one or two your 
men, to join us especially Elias. I would be glad to see 
him, and I wish you could sent me as many guns as you 
have, as I know you have no use for them if you any ; as I 
mean now to fight the cruel rebels as well as I can ; what- 
ever you will be able to sent'd me, you must sent'd me by 
the bearer. I am your sincere friend and humble serv't, 

Joseph Brant." 
To Mr. Carr. 

P. S. — I heard that Cherry Valley people is very bold 
and intended to make nothing of us. They called us wild 
geese but I know the contrary. Jos. B." 



BROOKFIELD. 1 67 

Before the close of the Revolution, a party of hostile In- 
dians invaded the domain, killed the hired men, burned the 
barn, destroyed the property, and carried Mr. and Mrs. 
Carr into captivity. At first they were treated with great 
severity and for a time were made to follow them in all 
their expeditions, submitting them to every degradation, of 
which the following is but one of the many : — During their 
passage to Canada, whither they journeyed, sometimes in 
coming to rivulets or small sloughs, M. Carr was laid prone 
in the mud and water, to make a bridge for the savages to 
walk across upon ! In the course of time, however, they 
became inured to the hardships of their slavery ; their 
cheerfulness returned, and by teaching their masters many 
arts unknown to the Indians, they gained their favor, when 
equality in all things save liberty was accorded them. 

At the close of the war in 1782, they were restored to 
freedom, when they returned to the Unadilla to find their 
home in ruins, and the cleared fields they had left, covered 
with briars and underbrush. One relic of the life that had 
been, was left to them, which they scarcely expected to find 
— their family horse — which had been overlooked by their 
captors. He had managed to subsist by roaming the woods 
and cropping the wild herbage and buds of trees through 
all those winters ; and though reduced to little more than a 
skeleton, it was yet a sad comfort to behold the faithful 
animal lingering around the old home. Mr. and Mrs. Carr 
immediately applied their energies to the restoration of their 
abode to something like its original comfort, and however 
mistaken might have been their zeal, in the beginning of 
the war, subsequent events gave a new direction to their 
sympathies ; for here, in their at last peaceful, comfortable 
and retired home, they dispensed many kindnesses to the 
travel-worn emigrants who passed this route. Mr. Carr 
lived to an old age, and died without property. When his 
employer. Col. Edmeston, died, Carr was abandoned to want 
by the remaining heirs, suffering from poverty in his ad- 



1 68 MADISON COUNTY, 

vanced years, until by the spirited interference of his neigh- 
bors, a piece of land was secured to him in fee-simple, on 
which his industry supported him until death. 

As the agent of a wealthy family, resident in England, 
Mr. Carr was supposed to have in his possession, at times, 
large sums of money ; to secure which, when the perils of 
the revolution surrounded him, he buried the treasure near 
his dwelling. His long captivity and absence from his 
farm, the growth of wood, briers and weeds, the general 
extinction of common marks and signs, rendered his search 
for the buried money toilsome and fruitless. Such was the 
rumor when Carr returned to his home ; and like the silly 
tale of Kidd's money -chests, it has tound believers, as ap- 
pears by the fact that the earth has been upturned at the 
supposed places of deposit. 

Early in the spring of 1791, a company of families in 
Rhode Island, having decided on removal westward, sent 
out their agents to purchase land in the Government tract 
of the Twenty Townships. Stephen Hoxie was one of the 
two agents thus deputized, who, with others of that com- 
pany, came on the same spring. On their way they stopped 
at Albany, and made purchase of thirteen lots at fifty cents 
per acre. We have before us the original patent of the lot 
Mr. Hoxie chose for himself It is dated the 3d day of 
May, 1 79 1. The tract was described as situated in the 
County of Montgomery, on the west side of the Unadilla^ 
distinguished as Lot No. 96, of Township 19, of Twenty 
Townships: This lot contained 350 acres. As in other 
ancient patents, the State reserved all gold and silver mines i 
also, five acres in each hundred was reserved for highways. 
We have here also the signature of Geo. Clinton, near 
which is attached the ponderous " Great Seal of the State 
of New York," the one in use at that period, and which 
bears the the insignia devised by the Provisional Govern- 
ment of 1777. 

In due season Mr. Hoxie and his companions reached 



BROOKFIELD. 1 69 

the hospitable abode of Mr, Carr, on the eastern shore of 
the Unadilla. Resting but a short time they eagerly- 
pushed forward into the unbroken township of No. 19, 
cutting the first road, directing its course up the valley, 
northerly, to the location of lot No. 96. Here, between 
the base of the hill and the swampy valley, the stakes were 
struck for the first domicil in the wide wilderness of Brook- 
field. 

In the early summer, at about the time of Mr. Hoxie's 
arrival, Capt. Daniel Brown, of Connecticut, with his family 
and a few friends whom he had induced to join him in the 
expedition, took up their journey for the " far west." It 
had been their intention to settle in the Genesee country ; 
but unforeseen events induced them to take a southerly 
route, and late in June, 1791, they reached the Carr farm. 
The kind invitation Mr. Carr extended to them to rest a 
few days at his place, and reconnoitre the surrounding 
country, was gladly accepted, for they had become weary 
and dispirited from the many obstacles unavoidably encount- 
ered in their long and toilsome journey, which had been 
performed with an ox team, and had occupied twenty-one 
days. The rich lands of the Unadilla attracted their 
attention, and a nearer examination of the opposite shore 
revealed beauties and advantages more promising than they 
had looked for, presenting temptations which overcame 
their attractions toward the Genesee. Upon inquiry they 
found a tract of land which h?d been ceded by the Indians 
directly to the State, of which a clear title could be obtain- 
ed and at an exceeding low rate. Accordingly, a few miles 
above the Carr farm, on the west and opposite bank of the 
Unadilla, on lot eigty-two, nineteenth township, Capt. 
Daniel Brown selected his abode, and with his wife, two 
sons, Isaac and Nathan, and one daughter. Desire, became 
the first settled family of the town of Brookfield, 

Captain Brown began the first operations for his settle- 
ment on the fourth day of July, 1791. He and the pio- 



170 MADISON COUNTY. 

neers who had joined him, were men who had passed 
through the soul-stirring scenes of the revoUition — who 
felt, in all its grandeur and significance, the full meaning of 
the word " Independence." They knew that at the old 
homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island, on the morning 
of that fifteenth anniversary of our nation's birthday, their 
veteran comrades of '76 and 'yy, would shout their joy 
over land and sea from their deep-voiced cannon, while 
here in the far off west, amid the hush of the solemn wilder- 
ness, what could they do to celebrate it t — They determined 
to do something which should never be forgotten ; this 
day should begin a new era in the wilderness west of the 
Unadilla ! 

Our patriotic pioneers made preparation to usher in the 
day with a salute, — not of the warlike notes of thundering 
artillery, but of the cheerily ringing echos of the wood- 
man's ax, the harbinger of progress, prosperity and rural 
independence ! Therefore when the morning sun of that 
independence day shone through the woodland, Colonel 
Brown's ax gleamed amid its first rays, and its ringing, 
echoing strokes proclaimed the beginning of a new era, 
marked upon the tallying line of the nation's rolling years. 
To the booming cannon of Bunker Hill, these echoes from 
the heart of the dim, old woods, was the clear, silvery 
answer of a nation springing into life under the influence 
of freedom, peace, conscious power and indomitable will. 
This may be reckoned as the first " Fourth of July celebra- 
tion," which took place in Madison County. 

We may here add, before dismissing this subject, that 
Captain Brown was a clothier by trade in his earlier days, 
but at the age of sixty-six years his ardor was aroused to 
visit and settle with his family, on the far-famed lands of 
Central New York. High spirited and accustomed to 
overcoming obstacles, they made no hesitation in setting 
out for that distant country as we have seen, with an ox 
team, following an unfrequented route and finally settling 



BROOKFIELD. I/I 

in an entirely unpopulated region. It would seem that 
Captain Brown's family were equal to the tasks generally 
required of youth and of early man and womanhood ; for 
he was the father of ten robust, spirited daughters, each 
six feet in hight, not one of whom feared to do a man's 
work if it were necessary. 

As weeks passed by, their isolated life grew wearisome. 
One autumn afternoon, the young lady. Desire, wandered 
ojt in the woods ; sitting down upon a rock her thoughts 
soon annihilated space between herself and dear old Con- 
necticut. Haunted with a yearning for other faces and 
voices, her oppressed feelings found relief in listening to 
her own voice as it floated out clear and strong over the 
valley, calling for nothing, but simply to hear the variations 
of the echo. Presently through the leafy arches of the 
woodland, mingling with the echo, came the faint sound of 
a voice. Again she called, and breathless with wonder, 
distinctly heard the answer. As her calls were repeated 
the answer drew nearer and nearer. Satisfied that the voice 
was human and was approaching the settlement, she wept for 
joy. It proved to be John I. Morgan, and Ws party of 
surveyors, who were rejoiced to find there was a human 
habitation near, where household comforts, not to be found 
in camping out, would be theirs to enjoy. They weht 
home with the young lady and abode with Captain Brown 
during the term of their surveying. On his return to 
New York City, Morgan often told the story of his 
romantic introduction to Miss Desire Brown, the handsomest 
girl (because the only) of the Unadilla. 

Stephen Hoxie, who, as has been seen, arrived before 
Capt. Brown, erected a small cabin and opened a clearing 
around it. In the autumn he returned fo Rhode Island, 
and early in the spring of 1792, came back to Brookfield, 
while several of the thirteen lot holders, with their families, 
came with him and took possession of their lots. Among 
these lot holders were John and Elias Button, Thomas 



172 MADISON COUNTY. 

and James Rogers, and Peleg Langworthy, whose posses- 
sions, contiguous to each other, spread over the hills west- 
ward and northward of Leonardsville, in the 19th township ; 
while Elder Simeon Brown, Phineas Babcock, Elder Henry 
Clark and others had their farms in the immediate vicinity. 
Most of the farms taken up by these pioneers are now 
owned by their descendants. 

This year (1792), considerable progress was made in the 
settlement. Capt Brown built the first saw mill upon Mill 
Creek. John Button, who had located on lot eighty-two, 
adjoining Capt. Brown, purchased land some distance south 
on the same stream, on account of the water power, and 
here erected the first grist mill of the town. These facili- 
ties made this section famous far and near, and consequent- 
ly emigration poured in and rapidly settled the immediate 
neighborhood, Samuel H. Burdick, Samuel Billings, David 
Maine, Stephen Collins, Paul and Perry Maxon, Nathaniel 
and Eleazer Brown, and Robert Randall, came in this year 
and settled in various localities. Asa Frink, Ethan and 
Oliver Babcock, Ira and Nathan Burdick, and Yeoman 
York, were soon added to the settlement, as were also Ja- 
bez Brown, John Clark, and Capt. Samuel Babcock. 

Stephen Hoxie again returned east in the fall of 1792. 
He had, on his last return here been accompanied by his 
son, John Hoxie, a youth of seventeen, whom he now left, 
with two comrades, on his farm for the winter, to look after 
the premises, take care of the one cow they had driven 
from Rhode Island, and to make the quarters comfortable 
for the arrival of the family. It is easily inferred that these 
young fellows busied themselves most industriously in 
studying the habits of those curious architects, the beavers, 
arranging and watching their traps, and dressing the furs 
of those they captured, and that their industry was re- 
warded with success ; for with the money realized from the 
sale of his furs, John Hoxie afterwards purchased the first 
fifty acres of his own farm. In this and kindred employ- 



BROOKFIELD. I73 

ments, and in neighborly calls at the Brown's and Button's 
on the hill, they comforted themselves, and were tolerably 
successful in keeping off homesickness till the long and 
anxiously looked for emigrants should arrive, which event, 
the coming of Stephen Hoxie and his family, duly trans- 
pired early in the spring of 1793. 

Between this period and the year 1800, many other fami- 
lies located, some of whom only made a temporary residence. 
In the southeast part of the town were several families by 
the name of Coon ; their settlement was known as Coon- 
town. In the north part were the Terrys, and their settle- 
ment was called Terrytown ; there were the Welchs who 
came from Stonington, Conn, This family consisted of the 
father and mother, and thirteen children who located around 
them. The eldest, Charles, was married in Stonington, 
and himself brought a family of wife and two children. His 
son, Hosea W. Welch, lives near the Welch family burial 
ground and owns the farm on which it is situated. Numer- 
ous descendants of the Welch family live in Brookfield ; 
they are generally thrifty farmers and are worthy and use- 
ful citizens. The pioneer Welch and his wife, and other 
members of their family, died during the great epidemic of 
18 1 3, being some of its first victims. (Note b) 

Auspiciously dawned the settlement of Brookfield, which 
now bid fair to become early populated by a religious, in- 
telligent and industrious people. But the spirit of specula- 
tion came also. The same year that Stephen Hoxie and 
Capt. Brown came in, Michael Myers, Jedediah Sanger 
and John I. Morgan, purchased all the unsold lands of 
Brookfield, together with Sangerfield. The following is a 
copy of the record of this sale from Doc. Hist, of N. Y. Vol. 
III. page 1082 : 

" The application of Michael Myers, Jedediah Sanger, and 
John I. Morgan, for the purchase of Townships No. 18 and 20, 
and the parts unsold by the Surveyor General of Township No. 
19, being three of the Twenty Townships surveyed by the Sur- 
veyor General, pursuant to an act passed the 25th day of Febru- 



174 MADISON COUNTY. 

ary, 1789. The two first Townships, to wit: Nos. 18 and 20, 
at the rate of three shiUings and three pence per acre, and the 
parts of No. 19, unsold as above mentioned, at the rate of three 
shillings and one penny per acre, one-sixth part thereof to be 
paid on the ist day of October next, and the residue in two equal 
payments, the one-half on the ist of April, 1792, and the re- 
maining half on the ist of January, 1793, being read and duly 
considered. (Accepted.) 

Acres — 67, 130=^(^10,908 15s." 

Some of these lands were sold at first to settlers, but sub- 
sequently much of it was settled under perpetual leases, or 
leases of one, two or three lives. This method had a ten- 
dency to retard, in some measure, the progress of improve- 
ment. Competition, " the life of business," had no foothold 
among a tenantry who toiled from year to year, without 
hope of becoming owners of the soil they had subdued and 
brought under cultivation ; and is it surprising if some parts 
of this productive town should fall behind some of her sister 
settlements in progress .-' Do we wonder that the unyield- 
ing grasp by which the rental system held them, producing 
often great distress, should foster in the sufferers a spirit of 
retaliation and cupidity, and that in the course of genera- 
tions that system should become the nursery of criminal 
offenses, such as have disturbed the quiet citizens within 
the precincts of these townships for the past few years .'' 

On the death of John I. Morgan, a fewyears ago, Morgan 
Dix, of New York City, became heir to these lands. They, 
however, passed into the hands of Gen. John A. Dix, ex- 
ecutor of Morgan's will, by whom the farms were sold to 
actual settlers at reasonable rates, the improvements being 
deducted therefrom, which placed a large class of people, 
long of doubtful status, in a conc'ition of independence, and 
of unlimited permanency as families, if they willed it ; and 
from which, we may trust, will flow all the blessings of high 
civilization. 

Mr. Wait Clark of Clarkville, being agent for General Dix, 
much of the business pertaining to the final disposition of 
these lands has been transacted by him ; although much 



BROOKFIELD. 1 75 

has been sold, there still remains a considerable proportion 
unsold under his supervision. 

The first saw mill built in the town was erected by 
Captain Brown, in the year 1792, and the same year John 
Button built a grist mill on the same stream, some distance 
south of the saw mill, which gave the stream the name of 
" Button's mill Creek." A short time after, Jabez Brown 
built the second saw mill on the same stream. 

There is an anecdote told of an encounter with a bear, 
which took place on the day the frame of the last named 
saw mill was put up, at a point on the creek a short dis- 
tance above Button's Mill. Bears and panthers were plenty 
in Brookfield, and although no person dared venture out 
far at night without a flaming torch to frighten these 
animals from the path, yet a man felt safe in the day time, 
especially if his rifle accompanied him. However, this day 
John Button started for the raising, leaving his rifle hang- 
ing idly upon the rough ceiling of his kitchen. He followed 
up Mill Creek by a foot path that wound its way among 
the stumps and over fallen trees. A few rods from his 
dwelling and at the head of his mill-pond a large log lay 
stretched directly across his path, one end of it lying in the 
stream. As Button mounted the log in his passage, a 
ferocious looking bear rose up from behind it and boldly 
confronted him. He was not yet much accustomed to these 
savage foresters, but having heard it remarked that a bear 
could be easily frightened in the day time by a shrill yell, 
he gave a most terrific one, swung his hat and dashed it 
into "Bruin's face! Undaunted, the black monster rose 
upon his haunches and made a move as though he would 
embrace his opponent, but was so worried by a little doo- 
which had accompanied his master, as to give Button time 
to shout to his wife to 'Met out the big dog and bring the 
two guns." In quick time these arrived, and Button in his 
haste grasped one and shot the bear, only wounding him in 
the side. The ne.xt instant he caught the other gun which 



176 MADISON COUNTY. 

his wife was about to use, and not knowing she had raised 
the hammer, pulled it vehemently and broke the lock. 
With the breech of the gun he now fought the enraged 
beast, while his wife ran for the ax. Meanwhile the bear 
though worried by the small dog — the large one having' 
cowardly ran off — made his best endeavors to injure his foe, 
pausing at intervals to staunch the flow of blood from the 
wound, which he effected by crowding into it tufts of hair 
drawn with his teeth from other parts of his body When 
the ax arrived, a few well aimed blows quelled Bruin's fierce 
wrath, and being near the bank of the creek he plunged in 
and shortly after breathed his last. His body was secured 
and found to weigh four hundred pounds. 

The site of the grist mill was a short distance above But- 
ton's Falls, a very pretty cataract some seventy feet in 
hight. In a few years Mr. Button moved on lot 82, 
where he owned two hundred acres, some of his sons 
continuing in possession of the mill farm. This mill farm 
is now the property of Hosea Welch. 

The high elevation of the land upon which John Button 
settled, gave it the name of " Button's Hill." When the 
forest was cleared away it afforded a fine prospect of the 
surrounding country ; and there is truly much varied and 
beautiful scenery in this section of Brookfield. The pretty 
stream of Mill Creek, which at that day was much larger 
than now — indeed, really a torrent in times of freshets — 
came hurrying down the slope from Button's Hill, in some 
places wearing its path through the solid rock, seeming to 
be drawn on with increased impetus as it nears the narrow 
gorge at the falls. A few yards above the brink, the water, 
in descending from a rocky shelf, has worn cavities, some 
of them quite deep, more perfect and handsome we may 
imagine than if hewn out by the hand of the artisan. 
Through the narrow gateway worn by the stream, the water 
rushes over the rocks into a broad basin seventy feet be- 
low. Looking up from the bottom of this basin, we are 



BROOKFIELD. 1 77 

charmed with the view of over-hanging rocks, bordered and 
flanked with birch, beech, maple and hemlock, their extreme 
edges overhung with woodland vines and evergreen shrub- 
bery, and by the beautiful, ever-changing lights and shades 
of the waterfall, the dancing spray, the whirling eddies ; 
and we realize the beauty and feel the enchantment, with- 
out being oppressed with the awe that a large body of wa- 
ter, with its terrible rush and roar, and ominous thunder- 
ings, could inspire. There was a time, however, when the 
volume of water here was of sufficient magnitude to produce 
terror, while its ravages appalled the stoutest heart. It was at 
the time of a heavy freshet about 1805, which swept awav the 
dam of Capt. Brown's saw mill, and rushing onward demol- 
ished that belonging to Jabez Brown ; then, gathering im- 
petus, the torrent pressed its way forward, removing every 
obstacle till it reached Button's grist mill, when this too, with 
the ruins of the saw mills, was swept down stream and over 
the falls, a terrifying spectacle indeed, to the beholders. This 
was a public, as well as an individual calamity, and was se- 
verely felt as such for a time, in those yet primitive days. 

Easterly from the falls is one of those ancient, family 
burial grounds, which were once to be found on very many 
homesteads in our country, now only seen occasionally as 
relics of the past, their silent occupants having been re- 
moved to modern cemeteries. Among the hills of Brook- 
field, however, these places of home sepulture are more fre- 
quently to be met with than in any other town of Madison 
County. This one, belonging to the Welch family who set- 
tled here previous to 1800, is neatly kept, as they most gen- 
erally are here, by the descendants. In some places, where 
no descendants remain to cherish and care for the spot sa- 
cred to the dust of their forefathers, may be seen the broken 
tombstone, and the sweet wild rose struggling for existence ; 
emblems of the love which would fain mark the spot after 
the generations that planted them had utterly passed away, 
or were scattered abroad on the earth. 

L 



178 MADISON COUNr\\ 

Near here commences the rocky base of the upland, like 
an extensive battlement, reaching nearly the two miles be- 
tween this point and Leonardsville. This upland, or ridge, 
undoubtedly once formed the bold shore of a lake spread 
over the valley contiguous, beneath the soil of which have 
been found many curious shells, whose owners could have 
had their homes only in the depths of an inland sea. 
Spread out between eastern and western hill base, lies the 
sunny, peaceful valley, with fields waving in luxurious har- 
vests, dotted with comfortable and beautiful farm houses, 
and a village busy with the hum of industry ; while the Una- 
dilla, which at the time the pioneer settlers found it, was 
locked in the embrace of a gigantic forest, now placidly 
trails its course along through it like a ribbon of silver in 
the sunshine. 

The first birth in the town of Brookfield was that of Law- 
ton Palmer, son of Lawton Palmer, sen., on the homestead 
purchased by him on lot ']'], i8th township, and which 
is now in possession of members of the family. 

Lawton Palmer, sen., brought a large farm under cultiva- 
tion, and early built a large and substantial farm house, 
which is still standing, a memorial of ancient architecture. 
His son, Elias, was born, reared, and lived all his life upon 
this farm, and died here in March, 1866, aged sixty-five. 
Lawton Palmer, jr., raised from the seed the orchard south 
of this house. It was never grafted, but has been an excel- 
lent bearer of pretty good fruit. 

The first frame building on lot 96, Stephen Hoxie 
erected in 1793 ; its size was sixteen by twenty-four feet. 
It is still a very good building, used by his descendants as 
a shop and store house for farming utensils. The first 
house in which Mr. Hoxie's family dwelt, built in 1791, was 
of logs, and stood a few rods from where he built his frame 
house in 1800. This frame house is the fine farm house 
now owned by the Hoxie brothers. 

The first school house in town was built on lot 96, 



BROOKFIELD. 



179 



on land now owned by John Hoxie, jr. Asa Carrier 
taught the first school here in the winter of 1796-7. 

The first town meeting was held at the house of Capt. 
Daniel Brown, April 7th, 1795, at which Stephen Hoxie 
was chosen Supervisor ; Elisha Burdick, Town Clerk ; 
Clark Maxon, Joshua Whitford and John Stanton, As- 
sessors. 

The first store was kept by a Mr. Waterman, on the road 
laid out westward from the " Five Corners." The first 
Baptist church of the town also was built here, on a corner 
of Lawton Palmer's farm, he giving the ground for the site. 
Five Corners is a pleasant location, but conspicuous now 
only for its ancient school house, the cheese factory, and 
the handsome, well cultivated farms ot the Browns, descend- 
ants of the pioneers of that name who took up these same 
farms. 

The first school kept in this district was taught by a 
Miss Berry, a forsaken log house being used for the pur- 
pose. The following is related by an aged friend who was 
one of Miss Berry's pupils : — "The roof of this house was 
so well ventilated, that, in several heavy rain storms, the 
teacher was obliged to protect herself and the little girls 
with a spread umbrella, while the large boys were content 
to take a summer shower-bath. The children all loved 
Miss Berry, she was so kind to the little ones ; when they 
fell asleep in their seats she would make them a little bed 
upon the old cross-legged table, and lay them on it ; but 
with all her kindness and tenderness some people would 
find fault with her, because she had imported some new ex- 
travagances in pronunciation, and in teaching the alphabet. 
She spoke the word ' girls ' instead of ' gals ;' she said 
' chest' instead of 'chist ;' * chair' instead of ' cheer,' &c. 
Previously, the alphabet had been taught to the little ones 
thus : — 'A beside of a, B beside oib, C beside of c', and so 
on ; which they received into their minds as it sounded 
from the teacher's lips, abbreviated somewhat like this : — 



l80 MADISON COUNTY, 

' A bis'fa, B bis o'b, C bis o'c/ &c., having- not the remotest 
idea of what the mongrel mess signified. The letter ' Z ' 
was called * ezzard ;' the character ' &,' ' amphersand ;' and 
the name of ' John ' was spelled ' lohn,' — no letter ' J ' being 
in the alphabet they used. Miss Berry corrected all this." 

There were no pictorial primers in those days for the 
advantage and amusement of the little ones ; indeed, books 
with pictures in were not allowed in school, it being the 
prevalent notion that pictures took the pupil's attention 
from his lesson. Spelling-book, Geography and the Reader 
afforded ample studies, it was thought, for the capacity of 
a majority of the children, while a few of the eldest were 
taught writing in addition. Daboll's Arithmetic was held 
a great work, in which the older boys might become pro- 
ficient ; but very rarely indeed did a young lady tamper 
with the half-forbidden lore of its pages. There was a pro- 
cess by which a grown-up girl could add together the num- 
ber of skeins of linen she had spun in a week, but she 
might not have the remotest idea that it had any relation 
to the simplest rule of arithmetic that she saw her brother 
" figuring out " on the slate. So much for education and 
its facilities in the rural towns, in the beginning of the 
nineteenth century. 

Particularly in passing through this vicinity of the Five 
Corners, is one reminded of the changes that have taken/ 
place. 

Beaver creek, a fine stream of water, received its name 
from the noted Beaver Dam, which these ingenious little 
workers had thrown across the stream, and which was 
found in perfect order by the first settlers in this vicinity. 
The same dam was used for several years to retain the 
water-power of White's Mills. 

At the foot of the western hills, bordering Beaver creek, 
on an elevation about a quarter of a mile from the western 
bank, is situated the Camenga farm, formerly the property 
of John I. Morgan. It was laid out and improved into a 



BROOKFIELD. l8l 

comfortable home by him, at a time when his business 
transactions, in this town were so extensive as to need his 
personal attention. Later, it became the summer resort of 
himself and family. The residence is a pretty farm cottage, 
located in a most romantic spot ; the green and park in 
which it is situated give it a picturesque appearance. From 
John I. Morgan it passed, together with his immense estate, 
into the hands of John A. Dix,* one of New York's ablest 
generals and statesmen, and one of her most honored men. 

Babcock's Mills, farther south, on Beaver creek, was very 
early built up. This hamlet now contains a saw mill, grist 
mill, a manufactory of horse-rakes, a cabinet shop ai.d a 
meeting house. 

It will be seen that most of the earliest settlers located 
on the hills ; they held the opinion that hill farms were 
more exempt from frosts than valley land. It is remarked 
that the farm of Dr. Hackley, a valley farm on the Plainfield 
side of the Unadilla, at the Forks, was once offered by the 
doctor in a trade, acre for acre, for a hill farm that is not at 
the present day considered of great value ; while the Hack- 
ley farm is now worth ;^200 per acre. 

The population being greater at first in the hilly sections, 
embryo villages were earliest planted there. It is said that 
the old time Billings tavern, at Five Corners, was the first 
tavern opened in town. 

Unadilla Forks was a prominent business point before 
the building up of Leonardsville, and therefore had a bear- 
ing upon the interests of this section of the town. Caleb 
Brown was the chief mover in the first building movement 
at the Forks. In 1805, he built the first grist mill, which 
was in fact the first grist mill in the town of Plainfield. 
He afterwards put up an oil mill and clothing works within 
the forks, on the eastern Unadilla branch. He also 
erected a building for a woolen factory on what was called 
the "Island," perhaps three-fourths of a mile south of the 

* Elected Governor of New York State, Nov. 5, 1S72. 



1 82 MADI90N COUNTY, 

Forks. He was preparing to set up machinery, — had 
already employed workmen and commenced spinning on 
" Jenneys" set up in the chamber of his spacious dwelling, 
when his active career was cut short by sickness and death, 
leaving his business in an unfinished, unsettled state. Mr. 
Brown had also been largely engaged in farming, being 
the owner of considerable land in Plainfield, as well as 
Brookfield, on which, in each town, he employed workmen. 
Upon his death, this, with his manufacturing operations, 
ceased. The woolen factory was abandoned. At the pres- 
ent date (1870), there is only the grist mill and carding 
works in operation, the buildings of the other mechanical 
interests having disappeared. 

This location, however, was too convenient to be unim- 
proved, hence, after the sad and seriously felt ending of 
Mr. Brown's enterprises, others were set afoot, and pressed 
forward during the subsequent years. At the present date 
the place has two churches, a hoe factory, a flouring-mill, a 
saw mill, a machine shop, and has a population of two 
hundred and fifty-three inhabitants. 

In the west part of the town a number of Quakers set- 
tled. Prominent among them were: Joseph Collins ist, 
Solomon and Hezekiah Collins, a Mr. Sheffield, Gideon 
Kenyon, Thomas Kenyon and James Larkin. The three 
sons of Joseph Collins, — Job, Peter and Joshua, — and 
Albert Button, built up a place called Moscow, now Delancy. 
The Collins brothers were saddle and harness makers. 
Peter Collins built a tavern, Albert Button built a store, and 
Job and Joshua Collins had a number of shops for the 
several trades of harness and saddle making, wagon making 
and blacksmithing. For about ten years a considerable 
business was done in Moscow; but near the year 1830, 
these proprietors, desiring a location where better facilities 
in the form of water-povver, and easier access to large 
business centers were offered, sold out, moved away, and 
the abandoned village soon decayed. Some of the best of 



BROOKFILLD. 1 83 

those deserted buildings have been converted into farm 
houses upon the very good farms in the neighborhood. 

1 he Quakers had a large society ; they were connected 
with that of the town of Madison. For many years their 
meetings were held at the house of Thomas Kenyon. 
About 1820, their house of worship was built, which was 
well filled with devout worshipers at all their meetings, for 
about twenty-five years, when death began to decimate the 
aged and faithful, the children married "out of the meeting," 
or moved away, the leaders became so few that the meet- 
ings grew fewer and farther between, and finally the house was 
closed. To-day, the dilapidated building upon Quaker Hill, 
once the center of attraction to a large number of devoted, 
faithful hearts, where the sunlight of the bright Sabbath 
mornings once beamed through lattice and doorway upon 
an exquisitely neat and orderly interior, presents naught to 
the eye, exteriorly and interiorly, but broken windows, 
rotting casements, decaying walls, and gathering dust and 
cobwebs. The atmosphere of the whole location seems 
pregnant with loneliness. The hill is one of the highest in 
this hilly region ; far around are to be seen broad grazing 
farms, dotted with herds of cattle, and now and then an 
isolated barn, but with very few farm houses in view ; 
between the church ruin and highway is the grave yard, — 
not all neglected, but quiet and silent as, it seems, suited 
the undemonstrative habits, when in life, of those whose 
forms are reposing beneath the unostentatious marble 
headstones. 

The large farms in this vicinity are owned by Messrs 
Brand, Collins, Hoxie, and the Stanbros. Three of the 
original Quaker families, namely : Hoxie, Collins, Joseph 
Collins, jr., and Brier Collins, still reside in the town. 

From the limited means we have of ascertaining the 
names and origin of other and prominent families, especially 
of Clarkville and vicinity, and the more northern part of 
Brookfield, we can only add such as have been obtained 



1 84 MADISON COUNTY. ] 

from published sources, and from other reliable authority. 
From these we infer that the different families of Clarks 
were conspicuous. 

John Clark, and his wife Mary Wait Clark, moved from 
Exeter, Rhode Island, in the fall of 1810, and located on lot 
No. 16, of the 19th township. Mr. Clark had a family 
of eight children. Of the four sons, three resided in 
town many years. At the present writing (1870,) only one 
resides here — Mr. Wait Clark, of Clarkville. 

Capt. Samuel Clark was from Westerly, Rhode Island. 
He came to Brookfield in 18 10, and located on lot No. 
35, of the* i8th township. He had a family of six sons and 
three daughters, all of the sons but one locating in town. 
Judge Joseph Clark is one of these sons. 

Joshua Whitford, located on lot No. 'j6. He reared 
a large family of sons and daughters, who settled in 
this town and Plainfield, Otsego Co. They are mostly 
farmers, of the enterprising, progressive sort. Several of 
the descendants of Joshua Whitford are residents of Brook- 
field. This pioneer was one of the first assessors of the 
town — chosen in 1795 — and was afterwards for several 
years Town Clerk, as was also his son William. He was 
an active man in his day in all public affairs. 

Patten Fitch, from Massachusetts, came before 1810, and 
located two miles north of Clarkville, His father. Dr. 
Lemuel Fitch, came with him. Patten Fitch was one of 
the surveyors of the town. He also taught one of the 
earliest schools, in his own house. He was afterwards a 
teacher twenty-seven years in this and the adjoining towns. 
Members of his family still reside in town, among whom are 
three sons, namely : Patten Fitch, jr., of Clarkville, harness 
maker and farmer ; Julius O. Fitch, of Leonardsville, 
wagon maker; and EUiot G. Fitch, of North Brookfield, car- 
riage maker. 

The Livermores, from Vermont, settled in the north part 
of Brookfield at an early day. Their location was at the 



BROOKFIELD. l85 

head of the swamp, near Gorton's Lake. They were an en- 
terprising family. 

From a recent letter we have the following statement, 
which will be of especial interest to the descendants of the 
pioneers named : Asa Frink, jr., with his brother George, 
left Stonington, Conn., in 1796, — month of March — with 
their axes for pioneering, and journeyed to where Clark- 
ville now nestles among the hills. George cleared the 
ground where the Cemetery is laid out. In the memory of 
the writer, the first death in the valley and vicinity of Clark- 
ville, was a sister of Asa Frink, She rests in the burying 
ground on the flat, or meadow. From Mr. Frink's house 
could be seen four family burying grounds. 

Resolved Healey settled where North Brookfield is lo- 
cated. He died during the early days of the settlement, 
from the effects of the " Camp fever " generated at Valley 
Forge with Washington's army. Mrs. Asa Frink, the 
daughter of Mr. Healey, when eighteen years old, had the 
courage to take the fire brand torch and go from one to two 
miles, alone, by marked trees, to care for the sick, while 
" wolves, grey foxes and owls gave her a concert," as she 
expressed it. 

As a people the earliest settlers were patriotic and re- 
ligious, yet many of them exhibited much of the humorous 
in their composition. There are few in our day who relish 
a good joke keener than did our ancestors. An apt pun, a 
witty repartee, or an amusing anecdote served to flavor the 
daily routine of their laborious life. In one way or another 
there must be a little " fun, " and often in those times it came 
in the form of a practical joke ; if there was a Httle well 
merited revenge inflicted, not too severe for the provoca- 
tion, it was all the more relished. In illustration we give 
the following, which is related of those early settlers : Mr. 
C. was a man who cherished his own peculiar ways, and did 
not defer to other people's tastes and manners. He had, 
moreover, an unfortunate deformity of his mouth, which 



1 86 MADISON COUNTY. 

gave a nasal sound to his rather inarticulate speech. The 
wedding of his son, Joe C, was about to transpire, an event 
which had been kept "shady" from the old gentlemen in 
order to prevent his attendance, as his peculiarities would 
certainly be displayed, were he present, to the offense of the 
good taste of the company. A cousin of Joe's, a wicked wag, 
had also been overlooked in the distribution of invitations, 
and being chagrined by it determined to perpetrate a joke at 
the bridegroom's expense. Accordingly on the day of the 
wedding, which was to take place at the residence of one of 
Brookfield's pioneer ministers,this cousin rode to old Mr. C.'s 
in great haste, and in well-assumed excitement, called out, 

" Mr. C , hurry ! get on to your horse as quick as you 

can ! — Elder Cottrell's mule has kicked Joe's brains out ! — 
Be quick, for he's dead by this time !" The great, brawny 
old man leaped upon his horse, and thrusting his heels into 
the animal's flanks, pushed ahead with all possible speed. 
The astonished neighbors noticed, as he flew past, that at 
intervals of a few seconds he leaned forward and groaned, 
" Joe's dead ! — Joe's dead !" Arrived at the Elder's, he 
threw himself from his horse and rushed wildly into the 
house, just in time to witness the half-completed marriage 
ceremony. The old man stood aghast. " My G — d ! Joe 
haint dead !" he exclaimed, in his moderate nasal articula- 
tion ; " h — 11 ! I wouldn't been so disappinted fer twenty- 
five dollars !" 

ADDITIONAL ITEMS, 

It is stated that at the time of the great eclipse in 1806, 
the people in Brookfield, not having been supplied with 
almanacs, were unforewarned of its approach, and conse- 
quently, when it came on, many were frightened, fearing the 
consummation of all things was approaching. 



" Uncle Paine Wait," as he was familiarly called, was a 
Revolutionary soldier, who lived to the advanced age of one 
hundred and four years. He was a well-known resident of 



BROOKFIELD. 1 87 

Brookfield from the " early days." His famous peculiarity 
was, that he would never go to mill with a horse, always 
carrying- his grist on his back. He was the father of ten 
children. He was remarkably robust till within a few weeks 
of his death, when he undertook a long walk, exhausted his 
strength, and was taken ill in the house of Mrs. John Brown 
of Clarkville, and died in a few weeks. 



In 1813, a terrible epidemic prevailed, which considerably 
decimated the population, and removed hence many of the 
first settlers. 



OBITUARIES. 

"Died in Brookfield, March 31st, 1831, Rev. Henry Clark, 
aged 74 years. He was among the first settlers, and organized 
the first Seventh Day Baptist Church in that town, of which he 
had the pastoral care until within a few years of his death, when 
his age and infirmities obliged him to resign it. He left, of 
lineal descendants, nine children, fifty-one grand-children, and 
twenty great-grand children." [Madison Observer & Recorder.] 

" Died in Brookfield, on the morning of Feb.> 13th, 1830. 
Capt. Samuel Clarke, aged 75 years. In an early part of the 
Revolution he entered the service of his country as an officer in 
the army, and served the term of his enlistment (one year), which 
for several of the last years of his life entitled him to a pension, 
which he received with gratitude. He was afterwards several 
times called into the service of his country in his native State 
(Rhode Island), and always discharged his duties with signal 
bravery and faithfulness. At different periods during the war, 
he accumulated a handsome property by industry, and invested 
nearly the whole of it in a valuable sloop and cargo, which, with 
himself and several other men, was unfortunately captured by a 
band of marauders known as " Refugees." The ill-treatment 
he then received, had the effect of causing him to look with a 
jealous eye upon the conduct of the armies of his country. He 
early embraced the religion of Jesus, and in his last severe sick- 
ness its effects upon him were most comforting and supporting, 
and to his friends a source of great consolation." 

" Died, in January, 1866, Lawton Palmer, jr., aged 73 years. 
He was the fi.rst one born in the town of Brookfield, and lived his 
whole life and died on his farm about four miles from his birth- 
place." 

"Died in Brookfield, February i8th, 1810, Abigail, wife of 



l88 MADISON COUNTY. 

Capt. Daniel Brown, aged 76 years ; also, in Brookfield, Decem- 
ber 25th, 1814, ('apt. Daniel Brown, in the 90th year of his age." 

Aged Pioneers. — John Button and his wife, Anna, lived to 
advanced ages. Anna died in 1 840, aged ninety-three years ; 
John Button died in 1841, aged nine-two years. In the last 
years of his life, the chief desire of Mr. Button's heart \vas, 
to live to behold his descendant of the fifth generation ; and 
his wish was gratified. In the year 1840, his great-grand- 
daughter. Amy Lodema Jaquay, to his great delight visited 
him, bringing with her a great-great-grand-daughter. This 
member of the fifth generation was Hannah Jaquay, now 
the wife of Garner Crandall of Brookfield. 

Elias Button died about the year 1828, at the age of one 
hundred and five years. For sixty years of his life he was 
a school teacher, laying down his duties only when the in- 
firmities of eighty years compelled him to yield. His ac- 
count boolcs, which have been preserved by his relatives, ex- 
hibit beautiful specimens of penmanship, and bear unmis- 
takable evidences of practical scholarship, order, brevity and 
good taste. The thick, coarse paper belongs to the period 
of the Colonial days, and bears the royal stamp of the Eng- 
lish crown. 



Stephen Hoxie came from Charlestown, Washington 
County, R. I. His ancestor, Ludowick Hoxie, came from 
England. Four sons, named Joseph, John, Gideon and 
Presbury, and one daughter, Anna, were born to Ludowick 
Hoxie. From the line of John our pioneej descended, one 
of the latter's sons, named Stephen, being the one through 
whom the line is traced. Among the eleven children of 
this Stephen, was Stephen, jr., our Brookfield pioneer. He 
removed here with a wife and three sons, Luke, John and 
Solomon, and two daughters, Mary and Ruth. His oldest 
son, Ludowick, never lived here. Luke, John and Solo- 
mon, cleared large farms near their father's, and their de- 
scendants, or many of them, are now residing in the town. 
John Hoxie located at the foot of the hill, on the corners 



BROOKFIELD. 1 89 

where the main street crosses the turnpike, north of Leon- 
ardsville. He built at an early day the fine old dwelling- 
house which stands here, and which has recently been 
thoroughly repaired and made over by his son. Nelson 
Hoxie,* who owns this farm. Another son, John, lives 
near by on the Plainfield side of the river. 

Stephen Hoxie was one of the prominent men of his 
time and locality ; first in reducing the wilderness and pro- 
moting agricultural advancement, and first in the councils 
of the new country. He was a man of superior qualities, 
morally, intellectually and physically. In religious belief he 
was strictly orthodox, and held to the creed of the Quakers, 
or Friends. His life was an example of strict integrity and 
broad philanthrophy — always living what he professed. 
Politically, he had the confidence of all parties ; he was the 
first Supervisor of the town, and held that office for many 
years ; he was appointed a Justice of the Peace when that 
office was filled by appointment, and continued to hold it 
by election till nearly the close of his life ; he was elected 
to the State Legislature from the County of Chenango for 
two terms — the years 1803 and 1804. He died in the year 
1839, aged 10 1 years and 4 menths. 

Judge Joseph Clark, sonof Capt. Samuel Clark, located 
in Clarkville about 18 10, and has since resided there, very 
nearly on the same location, one door east of thepostoffice. 
He was the first Postmaster of this village and continued in 
that position twenty years. He was also Town Clerk 
twenty years ; Supervisor, fifteen years ; Justice of the 
Peace over twenty years. He served in the Militia in the 
war of 18 12, being a considerable time on duty at Sackett's 
Harbor ; was commissioned Ensign, and passed from this 
position through the successive offices to Colonel of the reg- 
iment, before the war closed. He was elected Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas and served for a term of ten years. 
In 1824, he was elected to the Assembly, again in 1828, 

* Now (1872,) decea.-cd. 



1 90 



MADISON COUNTY. 



and the third time in 1835. In 1839, ^^ was elected to the 
State Senate for a term of four years. In all positions his in- 
tegrity was conspicuous, while his sound sense, discretion, 
and abilities fully sustained the confidence the people reposed 
in him.* 

LEONARDSVILLE. 

Before the close of the last century, Joseph Crumb and 
Stephen Clark built a grist mill on the Unadilla, about half 
way between Leonardsville and the Forks. On raising this 
dam, it was found that the water flowed back upon the mill 
at the Forks, damaging its operations ; this necessitated a 
removal. It was next located on the present mill site in 
Leonardsville, and became the nucleus of the village. 

Reuben Leonard, a man of wealth and enterprise, came 
on here and started a store, the first one of the place, in 
1 801. It was located on land now enclosed within John 
Babcock's door-yard. The first postoffice of the town was 
kept here, and was named from Mr. Leonard ; hence the 
name of Leonardsville. The Leonard store in later years 
was moved across the street orr the southeast corner of the 
cross roads, and was occupied in its several divisions as a 
dwelling, grocery, shops, &c. Early in 1849, the building 
was pretty thoroughly repaired and refitted, and is now the 
store of Nathan V. Brand. A profitable trade has always 
been carried on here. Mr. Leonard did business on an ex- 
tensive plan. He built, and for several years run, a large 
potashery, to which was attached a pearling oven, Vvhere 
the first pearl-ash of the country v/as made ; he also built a 
tannery and distillery which were in operation many years. 

There were also other enterprises at an early day. Ethan 
Burdick had a potash works, and Harry Hinckley built a 
tannery ; the latter was taken down in 1869. 

The first church organization of the town was effected 
here in 1797. In a few years after, the society built their 
house of worship on the site of the present one. There 

*Recently deceased. 



BROOKFIELD, I9I 

was a tavern, built by Leonard, which passed through va- 
rious hands, — occupied in turn by Dennison Brown, Isaac 
Brown, Alvin Clark, Isaac Miner and several others. It 
was repaired about 1 868, and was afterwards burned ; the 
site is not now (1870) occupied. Not many years after the 
Leonard store was built, Ethan Burdick erected another, 
which was sold to Charles Munson & Brother, then to 
Dennis Hardin, afterwards to N. Brand & Co., and by the 
latter to the " Leonardsville Manufacturing Company." 
Daniel Hardin then bought it, and for a number of years 
did a good business, selling everything usually found in a 
country store. He rented it some six or eight years to 
Charles R. Maxon, the latter occupying it till about 1868, 
when it was burned, " The old store on the corner," as 
this was familiarly called, was a way-mark for many years ', 
from time to time it was repaired and added to, changed 
and modernized, so that at the time of its burning it had 
assumed the character and proportions of a block, in which 
was a dry goods store, a bank, a Good Templar's Hall, a 
shoe store, a tailor's shop, &c. The ground it occupied was 
purchased by Dennis Hardin and filled up for a door-yard. 
No one who now sees this inclosure in summer, gay with 
flowers, would imagine that on the same spot, for long, long 
years, men bought and sold, and sat out the long winter 
evenings, planning in concert and dreaming of the luture. 
With the "old store" many of those old neighboring deni- 
zens have passed away, their places being filled with 
strangers. On the corner above, a clothing store was built 
about 1853 or '54, by James H. Brand and Edwin Clark ; it 
passed into the hands of F. P. King, and in 1862, shared 
the fate of many other business institutions in Leonards- 
ville ; it was destroyed by fire. On the next corner Samuel 
Collins built a store ; he sold to Wm, H. Brown ; Mr. 
Brown to A. M. Griffin ; the latter to H. W. North ; and it 
is now (1870) occupied by Irving A. Crandall. 

Leonardsville was early distinguished for its manufactures ; 



192 MADISON COUNTY. 

they steadily increased in prosperity, giving life, growth and 
progress to the village. Previous to 1830, Samuel Brand 
set up a manufactory for scythes and hoes ; the business was 
prosperous and he increased it from time to time. Later, 
it was operated under the name of Brand & Son. All 
departments of business here prospered in their day ; but 
the time came when potasheries run down, for the want 
of the raw material to supply them ; and when hemlock bark 
became scarce, tanneries also found less to do ; and so one 
ceased operations and then another ; but in their stead 
grew up other enterprises. About 1843 or '44, the scythe 
and hoe factory became the property of N. Brand & Co., 
who added to the establishment the manufacture of forks. 
In 1852, it became the property of the combined firm, 
under the name of the " Leonardsville Manufacturing 
Company." All the mills upon the stream in this village, 
viz : — the grist mill, saw mill, fork shop, horse rake factory, 
wagon shop, furnace and machine shop, belonged to this 
firm. A great amount of business was transacted, many 
workmen being employed ; the wares and products of the 
company found market far and near, and Leonardsville 
was justly proud of her reputation as a manufacturing 
village. In 1857, the company dissolved, sold out to difter- 
ent persons, and each place of business was again operated 
separately, or in its own interests alone. During the 
ownership of the company, however, the grist mill, saw 
mill and fork factory, were burned ; but they were speedily 
rebuilt. These manufactories, except the fork factory, 
have continued in operation to the present time. 

Leonardsville Bank, an Associated Company, was incor- 
porated Feb. 27, 1856, with a capital of $100,000. First 
Directors, Ezra K. Hoxie, Luke Hoxie, Dennis Hardin, 
Washington S. Green, Vinson R. Howard, John Rogers, 
Nathan Brainard, Christopher Langworthy, Wait Clark, 
Nathan T. Brown, Samuel L. Brown, Noyes Stillman. 
First officers, President, N. T. Brown ; vice-President, 
Luke Hoxie ; Cashier, Dennis Hardin ; Jno. O. Wheeler 



BROOKFIELD. l^ 

Teller and Book-keeper. This was changed to the Firsl 
National Bank of Lconardsville, and was subsequently 
merged in the Ilion National Bank, and a private bank 
established in its place under the old name of Leonardsville 
Bank, with Dennis H ardin, President, John O. Wheeler, 
Cashier. 

CLARKVILLE, 

Or Brookfield, P. O., was originally called " Bailey's Cor- 
ners," after Dr. Bailey, one of the earliest resident phy- 
sicians. During the infancy of this village, its growth 
was materially forwarded by the building of a foundry 
'"y Joseph Clark. He also built a carding and clothier 
works. Jonathan Babcock built a tannery some fifty years 
ago, which did a heavy-business for many years. 

Ethan Babcock kept the first tavern, which was built by 
Reuben Leonard. It was situated on the present location 
of the Clarkville Hotel, now kept by Henry Keith. Mr. 
Leonard also built the first store, which is now standing, 
and is owned by Joseph Elliot. It is conspicuous on 
the west side of Main street, nearly opposite the residence 
of Joseph Clark, and bears the name of" S. Collins," one of 
its long-ago storekeepers. Mr. Leonard erected these 
buildings about 1810 or '12. 

About 1830, Clarkville was one of the liveliest political 
centers of the country, several exciting issues then pending ; 
— " Anti-Masonry vs. Masonry," the " Chenango Canal," 
and " Sunday Mails," then prominent matters, in turn agi- 
tating the country. This village had its prominent men, 
who were men of influence in county and state ; so it 
shared in these agitations, and acted no unimportant part 
in effecting final decisions. 

Something of a contest ensued on the changing of the 
name of the place from " Bailey's Corners " to " Clarkville ;" 
but the high esteem in which Judge Clark was held pre- 
vailed, and in his honor the place was named and incorpo- 
rated April 5th, 1834. In 1840, Clarkville had 450 inhab- 
M 



194 



MADISON COUNTY, 



itants, eighty dwelling-houses, one church, two taverns, 
five stores, one iron foundry, one fulling mill, two tan- 
neries, three carriage-shops and two cabinet shops. A 
manufactory for making hoes, horse rakes and other 
farming utensils, was one of the large business enterprises 
of later years. Since 1850, it failed; the premises were 
sold to Samuel Gordon, who converted them into a grist 
mill and tannery ; and within a few years he has built a 
cheese factory contiguous. An extensive and prosperous 
business is the result. 

Brookficld Academy was first built by subscription as a 
free school house. In April, 1847, it was incorporated by 
Legislature, with the above name. First trustees : Wait 
Clark, Pres., Dr. Bailey, Benjamin Gorton, Ethan Stillman, 
William Greene, 2d, Hosea B. Clark, &c. With a few ex- 
ceptions the board remains the same. First Principal, 
Ludowick York, A. M. ; Assistant, Philander Wood. Rev. 
R. T. Taylor, now proprietor of the Pittsburg (Pa.) Female 
College, and Professor of Languages, was principal of this 
academy during the years 1850 and '51. 

North Brookfield. — In the north part of the town, 
west of the center, on a tributary to the Chenango river, 
lies this village. For many years it was but a hamlet, hav- 
ing a store, a blacksmith shop, and a tavern, the latter for 
many years kept by Mr. Alby, a colored man. He and his 
excellent wife, Jenny Alby, are well remembered, and were 
respected people. 

This is a great hop-growing locality, and wealth gained 
by engaging in the culture of this product is evident on 
every hand. Among the prominent families are the Terrys. 
IMorgans, Livermores, Faulkners, Fitchs, Gortons and 
others, many of whom, if not all, were of the old and early 
settled families in this part of the town. Within the last 
quarter century, the village has mostly grown up, and ol 
late its growth and progress has been decidedly marked. 
No village in the county has a greater reputation for wagon 



BROOKFIELD. 



19s 



manufactures. In every village, and on farms all over 
Madison County, and in Oneida, Otsego and Chenango 
counties, are seen the North Brookfield wagons and car- 
riages, which have given the names of Gorton & Fitch a 
wide reputation. The King & Cheesebro firm adds to the 
manufactures of th^ place. North Brookfield has also other 
enterprizes, viz., a furnace, grist mill, saw mill, cheese fac- 
tory, a hotel, two stores, a Baptist church, and has a pop- 
ulation of about 300 inhabitants. 

South Brookfield, or "Babcocks Mills," as sometimes 
called, is situated in the south part of the town on Beaver 
Creek. The Mills — a grist mill and saw mill — were built 
up by the Babcocks in the early settlement of the country. 
They were influential and respected people, ondmany of their 
descendants live in South Brookfield yet. Besides the grist 
mill and saw mill, the village has a horse-rake factory, a 
cheese box factory, a cabinet shop, and other mechanics' 
shops ; it has also a neat Methodist Church, a store and post 
office. A Good Templar's Lodge was organized here in 
the year 1870, which is a flourishing institution. M.dison 
County Lodge held its session with South Brookfield 
Lodge in May, 1872. 

TJie First Seventh Day Baptist C/iurch of Brookfield, 
located at Leonardsville, was organized October 3, 1797. 
The house of worship was built in 1802. The first pastor 
was Rev. Henry Clark, who served twenty-four years. In 
18 3, two churches were set off from this, viz : The 2d 
Seventh Day Baptist Chiireh of Brookfield, located two miles 
north of Clarkville, which eventually became known as the 
" Clarkville S. D. Baptist Church," and the ■^d Seventh 
Day Baptist Chureh, located one mile north of Babcocks 
Mills. 

The Baptist Church at Chukvillewses, formed July 7, 1798. 
Elder Simeon Brown was first pastor. The first meeting 
house was built at Five Corners. The society subsequent- 
Iv removed to Clarkville, and with the 2d Seventh Day 



196 MADISON COUNTY. 

Baptist Church, built a meeting house at that village. 
After this removal the first pastor of the Baptist Church 
was Elder Holland Turner, and the first pastor of the S. D. 
Baptist Church was Rev. Elias Bailey. 

The MetJiodist CJmrcJi of Clarkville was organized about 
1800, the class being formed by Rev. Henry Giles. The 
first pastor was Rev. Barzilla Willey. The first meeting 
house was built about 1820, and was located on lot 43, i8th 
Township. The society removed to Clarkville, and at a 
late date built a house of worship there. 



CAZENOVIA. 197 



CHAPTER IV. 



CAZENOVIA. 

Formation of the town. — Boundaries. — Geographical features. — 
Treaties of 1788. — The Road Township purchased of the 
Indians. — Indian occupation of this land. — The Holland 
Company. — John Lincklaen's Explorations. — Discovery of 
Lake Owahgena. — The Holland Purchase. — The Pioneer's 
Journey. — Names of Pioneers. — Rapid settlement. — Division 
of Road Township into four towns. — Laying out and naming of 
the village of Cazenovia. — Adventures with bears. — Early set- 
tlers. — First Town officers. — Division of the town in 1798. — 
Cazenovia village in 1803. — Incorporation of Cazenovia vil- 
lage. — Enterprise and progress. — Manufactures and Business 
firms. — C. N. Y. C. Seminary. — Biographical Sketches and 
Notices of Prominent Men. — New Woodstock. — Churches. — 
Newspapers. 

Cazenovia was formed from Paris and Whitestown, 
Herkimer County, March 5th, 1795. DeRuyter was taken 
off in 1798, Sullivan in 1803, Smithfield and Nelson in 
1807, and a part of Fenner in 1823. It is the center town 
on the western border of the county, and is bounded on 
the north by Sullivan, east by Fenner and Nelson, south by 
DeRuyter, and west by Onondaga County. The surface of 
this town is a rolling upland, broken by the deep valleys of 
the Chittenango and Limestone Creeks. The summits of 
the hills are 200 to 500 feet above the valleys. 
Cazenovia Lake (called Owahgena, meaning " the lake 
where the yellow fish swim," or "yellow perch hike,") 
a beautiful sheet of water about four miles long, lies in the 



IqS MADISON COUNTY. 

-northern part. Its shores slope gently back from the 
water's edge, where handsome farms, unrivalled for richness 
by any in the county, are now spread out to view. 

The lake lies at a great elevation above tide water, and 
Chi tenango Creek which bears away its waters, is a feeder 
of the Erie Canal. This stream has in its course a fail 
of several hundred feet, affording a great number of mill 
sites. 

At Chittenango Fall, about three miles from Cazenovia 
village, the water plunges in a beautiful cascade, perpen- 
dicularly, over a ledge of limestone rock, 136 feet 
in hight. There is no scenery in this part of the 
State more charming than along the course of this 
creek from the village to the Falls. The road is excellently 
graded and macadamized, and winds with the stream 
between the mountainous hights, which, a part of the dis- 
tance, rise on either side, while the river flows swiftly 
down the descent, rushing over rocks, eddying around huge 
boulders, which everywhere lie in the stream — seeming to 
be detached fragments from distant mountains, sent hither 
by some powerful effort of nature, and hurled with terrible 
impetus into the waters. It is a singularly romantic, wild 
and awe inspiring spot, ^t the foot of the fall, as one stands 
in the deep shadows of overhanging rocks, perpendicular 
hills and thick forest, the gloom increased by rising spray, 
the changing and uncertain lights and shades glancing on 
the falling, foaming torrent, the rush, the roar, the boiling, 
trembling basin, the quivering earth with its apparently 
unstable footing.* 

The DeRuyter and Oneida Plank Road, which was built 
in 1848, in passing this route, found its most difficult ob- 
stacles in the gorge near the falls, where an elevation of 
800 feet was overcome by a gradual ascent, which in 
no place exceeds six feet in one hundred. The old road re- 

*The writer visited this spot at the close of a cloudy October day j hence lhes:e 

impressions. 



CAZENOVIA. 199 

quired an aggregate ascent of 1,600 feet. The plank road 
rendered available a water-power hitherto useless ; its en- 
tire fall is 750 feet. From Cazenovia to Chittenango this 
road has been recently macadamized. 

Limestone Creek flows across the south part of the town. 
On this stream, near the southwest border of the town, are 
two beautiful cascades, called Delphi Falls, one of which is 
ninety feet in hight, the other between sixty and seventy. 
Hydraulic and common limestone are quarried near Chit- 
tenango Falls, in the northern and central parts ; the soil 
is a gravelly loam. In the southern part of the town a 
clayey loam soil prevails, underlaid with hard pan. 

As we turn our attention to the history of this region, we 
are enabled to go beyond the day when it was called Caze- 
novia, into the ancient time when it was a part of the broad 
territory of VVhitestown. The far-reaching trails of the 
Iroquois had pointed the way of emigration into northern 
Madison County. A sort of semi-civilization was accom- 
plished through the intercourse of the Indians and whites, 
in their days of war and of peace, as far back as the six- 
teenth century, so that the savage had learned many of the 
useful arts, with, probably, some additional viciousness ; and 
the Englishman and Frenchman, more often the latter, had 
mingled his blood with the race of the red man ; for the 
white man desired this beautiful country, and rather than 
not dwell in it, he willingly took up his abode with the ab- 
original possessors. When peace succeeded the troublous 
times of the Revolution, the controllers of the public welfare, 
knowing well the value of these lands, and knowing, also, 
that the time had come when peacable arrangements could 
be made with the Indians, effected amicable treaties with 
them, by which large tracts were obtained for settlement. 
In 1788, treaties were made, through which the " Military 
Tract " of Onondaga, the Chenango " Twenty Towns," and 
the " Gore," lying between them, were obtained. The 
Military Tract was appropriated to " Soldiers' Rights;" and 
while the Twenty Towns were sold to different purchasers^ 



200 MADISON COUNTY. 

the Gore, or its proceeds, were to be appropriated to the 
laying out of new roads. Therefore it was named " Road 
Township." It was a tract about thirty-five miles long, 
from north to south, four and a half miles wide at the 
northern extremity, and about four miles at the southern 
containing about 100,000 acres of land. The project of 
opening the great Genesee, as well as a road from the salt 
springs in Onondaga County, which should traverse Road 
Township to Chenango, in the Twenty Towns, was in con- 
templation, but nothing was done until after the sale of this 
tract to the Holland Land Company. 

Previous to the treaties of 1788, this town was in the 
domain of the Oneidas, and was considered as their reserve 
hunting ground ; and the lake, so well stored with fish, was 
their especial property. Though their village lay at the 
northward (at Canaseraga), yet they kept a well-defined 
path to and up the Chittenango Creek to the lake, where 
they built their temporary cabins, reduced the timber, con- 
structed apparatus for fishing, and otherwise betook them- 
selves to the pursuits of their race. At the head of the lake 
they evidently, at some time, established themselves with 
some degree of permanency, and cultivated small fields of 
corn. There some of their number have been buried. 
In i86r, when the citizens of this School District (No. 5) 
were sinking a hole to set their liberty pole, near the school 
house, a large skeleton of an' Indian was found buried in a 
sitting posture, with hatchets, pipes, beads and other arti- 
cles which the Indian was supposed to need on his journey 
to the Spirit land. The circumstance of the remains of a 
breast-work-like fortification, which could be seen for many 
years after the settlement by white people, just east of this 
school house, and the frequent bringing to light as the soil 
was cultivated, of various implements of domestic use, such 
as heavy stone mallets or pestles, worn smooth by friction, 
— apparently of the kind used in pounding corn, — of stone 
hatchets, (sometimes broken,) of rather ingenious make. 



CAZENOVIA. 20I 

and other peculiarly-formed implements — the use of which 
is unknown at the present day — curious beads, &c.,* all 
would indicate something like a permanent residence, 
where their Indian arts flourished for a season, where they 
found abundant sport as well as sustenance in fishing, and 
also in hunting, — for bears and deer were plenty, and otter 
and beaver were not scarce, — and where their little fields of 
corn grew thriftily. They were undoubtedly one of the 
families of the great Confederacy, established here for a 
season ; not at all isolated, as evidences of about equal an- 
tiquity of the proximity of neighbors are found on what was 
called the " Fort Lot," two miles to the westward, near 
Oran, Onondaga County. This family may have been 
driven from here at last by some invading foe,t or perhaps 
they abandoned their fortifications (which the Indians inva- 
riably erected around their villages,) for some more congenial 
spot. 

The antiquities of Fort Lot are graphically described in a 
letter written in 1845, by J. H. V. Clark of Manlius, N. Y., 
to Mr. Schoolcraft, and published in " Schoolcraft's Notes 
on the Iroquois," from which the following extract is made : 

"A locality in the town of Cazenovia, Madison Co., N. Y., 
near the County line, and on Lot ;i^, township of Pompey, Onon- 
daga Co., is called the " Indian Fort." * * * * It is about 
four miles southeasterly from Manlius village, situated on a slight 

* Found upon the farms of W. B. Downer and G. R. Southwell, who have pre- 
served many of these curiosities for the benefit of the antiquarian. 

f This supposition is strengthened by the following: In September, i86i,a 
sunken canoe or " dug out," filled with stones, was discovered in the lake by a party 
of three gentlemen fishing. They succeeded in getting the canoe to the surface 
and towing it ashore. Its antique appearance excited much interest among the 
Cazenovians, and thereupon was kindled a flame of enthusiasm for the departed 
nobility of the race once the unquestioned lords of Lake Owahgena, who had sunk 
their canoes that the invading foe might not possess them. It was decided to re- 
turn the relic to its bed of aquatic weeds, where it had evidently long rested, with 
ceremonials befitting the occasion. Accordingly, on the 12th day of the succeed- 
ing October, all Cazenovia gathered at the Lake to witness the unique proceedings, 
in which thirty-one persons from among the most prominent citizens, dressed in 
aboriginal costume, took part. For a description of the ceremonies the reader is 
referred to the Cazenovia Republican, October i6th, 1861, and also to a photo- 
graphic picture of the scene, preserved among a choice collection of pictures at the 
office of J. D. Ledyard, Cazenovia. 



202 MADISON COUNTY 

eminence, which is nearly surrounded by a deep ravine, t'.ie 
banks of which are quite steep and somewhat rocky. The ravine 
is in shape like an ox bow, made by two streams which pass 
nearly around if and unite. Across this bow at the opening was 
an earthen wall running southeast and northwest, and when first 
noticed by the early settlers was four or five feet high, straight, 
with something of a ditch in front, from two to three feet deep. 
Within this inclosure may be about ten or twelve acres of land. 
A part of this land when first occupied in these latter times was 
called 'the Prairie,' and is noted now among the old men as the 
place where the first battalion training was held in the County of 
Onondaga. But that portion near the wall and in front of it, has 
recently, say five years ago (1840), been cleared of a heavy 
growth of black oak timber. Many of the trees were large, and 
were probably 150 or 200 years old. Some were standing in the 
ditch and others on the top of the embankment. There is a con- 
siderable burying place within the enclosure. The plow has al- 
ready done much toward leveling the wall and ditch, still they 
can easily be traced the whole extent. A few more plovvings 
and harrowings and no vestige of them will remain." 

Mr. Clark picked up specimens of dark brown pottery. 
He adds that " every variety of Indian relic has been found 
there." One fact which has come to the knowledge of the 
author may be mentioned. Two cannon balls, of about 
three pounds each, were found in this vicinity, apparently 
long imbedded in the earth, indicating that light cannon 
may have been used, either for defence or in the reduction 
of this fortification, or both. Mr. Clark says further : 

" There is a large rock in the ravine on the south, on which 
are inscribed the following characters — thus : IIIIIX, cut three- 
fourths of an inch broad, nine inches long, three-fourths of an 
^inch deep, perfectly regular, lines straight. Whether this is a 
work of fancy, or of significance, is not known. * * * * 
There is a singular coincidence in the location of these fortifica- 
tions. * * * * They are nearly if not quite all situated on 
land rather elevated above that which is immediately contiguous, 
and surrounded, or partly so, by deep ravines, so that these form 
a part of the fortifications themselves. At one of these, on the 
farm of David Williams, in Pompey, the banks on either side are 
found to contain bullets of lead, as if shot across at opposing 
forces. The space between them may be three or four rods, and 
the natural cutting twenty or twenty-five feet deep." 

However the facts may be, concerning these Indian set- 



CAZENOVIA. 203 

tlements, the last of the race who were dwellers of these lo- 
calities had disappeared before the advent of the white set- 
tlers in 1792, and all outward marks of their presence have 
since gradually faded ; and did not the earth, as it is oc- 
casionally turned to the light by the furrow of the husband- 
man, yield a memento, oblivion would utterly cover every 
vestige of their past history. 

By the time the Government of New York State had be- 
come possessed of the lands of the Iroquois, the fame of 
their wonderful excellencies had winged its way to the 
crowded cities of Europe, and men of .vealth and high stand- 
ing caught the spirit of emigration. As soon as they were 
offered for sale, companies were formed to invest in these 
lands. In Amsterdam, Holland, one was formed called the 
" Holland Land Company," its object being to make estab- 
lishments in the wilds of America. The names of the in- 
dividuals forming this company were : Peter Stadnitski, 
Nicholas Van Staphorst, Peter Van Eeghen, HendrickVal- 
lenhoven, Aernout Van Beeftingh, Wolrave Van Heuke- 
lom, and who afterwards, with Jacob Van Staphorst, 
Christian Van Eeghen, Isaac Ten Gate, Christiana Coster, 
widow of Peter Stadnitski, and Jan Stadnitski, citizens of 
Netherlands, were the original Holland landowners. The- 
ophilus Cazenove was their first general agent to America. 
He took up his residence in Philadelphia, and through him 
the celebrated " Holland Purchase" of the Genesee country 
was obtained. 

"'^'- Under the patronage of Peter Stadnitski, who while liv- 
ing was the President of the Holland Company, John 
Lincklaen of Amsterdam, was sent into the United States 
to explore the new countries, and to make a purchase of a 
tract of land if he should find an advantageous situation. 
Accordingly he arrived in Philadelphia in the year 1796, 
bearing letters of instruction to Theophilus Cazenove. In- 
spired with zeal for his mission, Mr. Lincklaen, in the month 
of September, 1792, having completed his preparations 



204 MADISON COUNTY. 

for a tour in the wilderness, employed two hardy woodsmen 
to accompany him, and immediately set out, directing his 
course by the southern route through Scoharie to the Che- 
nango Twenty Towns ; his object being to explore them 
and the Gore, — contemplating the purchase of the latter and 
some one of the Twenty Towns. 

During his journey, Mr. Lincklaen kept a journal, which 
has been preserved by his family (having been translated 
from the French in which it was originally written), in which 
we trace his journeyings through the pathless forest, and 
note in his progress his stopping at Hovey's,* at Oxford, 
from whence the road was being opened to Cayuga Lake. 
He states that the " surveyors employed by Hovey are Na- 
thaniel Locke, of Westchester County, and Walter Sabin, 
who lives on the Susquehanna, near Mercereau's. Each 
surveyor has with him five men, viz: two chainmen, two 
markmen, and one to carry provisions. The surveyor, 
when running the outlines, has $2 per day, and when tell- 
ing out, $1.50. Each man that goes in the woods, carries 
provisions for a fortnight or twenty days. Sabin runs com- 
monly five or six miles a day, Locke eight or ten miles a 
day, Locke's hands have $10 a month, Sabin's only ^8." 
Here Mr. Lincklaen employed one of Hovey's men, when 
the party of four started on their westerly route. During 
the few subsequent days, the party, by zigzag marches, trav- 
ersed several of the southern-most of the Twenty Town- 
ships, Mr. Lincklaen making his observations of the soil, 
its productions, and the climate as far as indications could 
aid him, with discrimination, noting particular locations 
with accuracy, entering in his journal the names of the orig- 
inal purchasers of tracts in the sections he passed through 
which were already sold, and adding thereto many state- 
rrients which to the seeker after historical facts are regarded 
as especially interesting. On Monday, the 8th of October, 
the east line of the Gore was reached, from whence Mr. 

*See N. Y. State Gazetteer, pages 229 and 655. 



CAZENOVIA, 205 

Lincklaen's course was mainly directed to the northward, 
exploring thoroughly this, and the townships bordering on 
the east. With Road Township (the Gore), its handsome 
valleys and streams, its land of excellent quality, its noble 
timber, he pronounced himself well pleased. 

Mr. Lincklaen's journal tells us that on the afternoon of 
Thursday, October 11, 1792, he arrived at the foot of the 
beautiful lake in Cazenovia, where the party encamped for 
the night. As the result of a reconnoitre he wrote: "The 
situation is superb, and the lands are beautiful." The re- 
cord continues : " Friday the 1 2th. — We journeyed from 
the lake north and east to the Genesee road, through lands 
both good and bad, the timber chiefly oak and poplar. We 
came to Canaseraga Creek, where five German families are 
settled ; they are poor. On the other side of the creek is 
the Indian settlement. We went to the house of John Den- 
ny ; there was no bread, no meat."* John Denny was a 
tavern keeper among the Oneidas. 

Directing his next course through the northern tier of 
the Twenty Towns, he passed through Sherburne, Che- 
nango County, where he found one Mr. Guthrie, who had 
been there three or four months ; thence passed through a 
corner of Otsego County, and there tarried a season with 
Louis DeVillieis,t on Aldrich Creek, town of Morris. 
From this place he set out upon his return journey to 
Philadelphia via New York, where he arrived after a month's 
absence, the object of his tour satisfactorily accomplished. 
Mr. Cazenove was well pleased with his report, and greatly 
admired the spirit of his enterprising young friend, and the 
perseverance which enabled one accustomed to the elegan- 
cies and luxuries of life to endure a protracted tour in the 
wilderness, with the tent for his lodging place, and bread 
and pork for his fare. As a result of Mr. Lincklaen's 

*This was the year after the breaking up of the homes of the pioneers of Sulli- 
van, in the history of which town will be found the cause of their destitution. 
jSee N. Y. S. Gazetteer, page 535. 



200 • MADISON COUNTY. 

explorations, the Holland Company purchased Road Town- 
ship and No. i of the Twenty towns, (Nelson) the latter 
coiitaining 20,000 acres of land, which, added to the 
R)rmer, comprised a territory of 120,000 acres, and extended 
over the present towns of German, Pitcher and Lincklaen, 
in Chenango County, and DeRuyter, Nelson, and the 
southern part of Cazenovia in Madison County. Mr. 
Lincklaen was appointed agent, with an uiterest in the pur- 
chase, to settle these lands. The nortJieru part of Cazeno- 
via was then a part of the Oneida Reservation, and 
subsequently a portion of Peter Smith's tract.* 

During the winter of 1793, Mr. Sam del S. Foreman, to 
whose narrative we are indebted for much of the material 
for this portion of Cazenovia's history, became acquainted 
with Mr. Cazenove and Mr. Lincklaen in Philadelphia, 
and by them was appointed clerk to accompany the latter 
inlo the backwoods, to commence the new settlement. By 
appointment, Mr. Foreman met Mr. Lincklaen in New- 
York, in April, 1793, where a large assortment of goods, 
comprising all articles necessary for a settlement, were pur- 
chased. From here the merchandize was taken up the 
North River and the Mohawk to Old Fort Schuyler (Utica), 
and left in the care of John Post, the only merchant then 
in that place ; Mr. Foreman forwarding only one load to 
Cazenovia on the first journey out. From here, with the 
three Jerseymen, — John Wilson, carpenter, Michael Day, 
mason, James Smith, teamster, — whom Mr. Lincklaen 
brought with him, having engaged their services for a year, 
and two waiters, Philip Jacob Swartz, and a large 
German whose name is forgotten, together with seven 
more employed for the expedition, whose names were: 
James Green, David Fa}', Stephen F. Blackstone, Philemon 
Tuttle, David Freeborn, Gideon Freeborn and Asa C. 

* About the time uf the laying out of the village of Cazenovia, Mr Linciclaen 
purchased large portions of the New Petersburgh tract in different sections of the 
four Allotments, to the amount of upwards of io,OQO acres, which added to the 
fifot purchase, coresiituted a tract of 130,000 acres at that time in his pooSesiiLin. 



CAZENOVIA, 207 

Towns, all started to the westward on the newly opened 
Genesee Road. A few days' provisions were in each knap- 
sack, each axman with his ax on his shoulder, and a 
yoke of oxen and a cart loaded with provisions for both 
man and beast, together with all implements of husbandry 
and for domestic use which their primitive beginning- 
would require, made up the cavalcade. 

The first day they proceeded as far as Wemple's tavern, 
Oneida Castle ; the next day reached Canaseraga and put 
up at the tavern of John Denny, a half-breed Indian, who 
had been a Captain in the Revolution, and spoke good 
English. The third day the company continued on the 
Genesee Road as far as Chittenango, where they left it, 
turning to the south and following the Indian path up the 
crooked course of the creek, the axmen being obliged to 
widen the way for the passage of the cart It was ascer- 
tained, through the difficulty of ascending the hills, that 
another yoke of oxen was needed, and forthwith a man Vv-as 
dispatched to Utica to obtain them. With perseverance, 
however, the next hill top was gained with the one pair by 
the time night set in, and preparations were speedily en- 
tered upon for an encampment. A huge fire was soon kin- 
dled, and the group of stalwart men, cheerful and respectful 
in the presence of their leader, though sadly wearied, pre- 
sented what would now seem in that place an unique .spec- 
tacle, as they moved about in the wavering glow of the 
camp fire. Forth from the knapsacks now came the pork 
and beans ; and slicing away with their jack knives, a ma- 
jority of the men proceeded to make a meal. A few, ap- 
preciating the Indian mode of cooking meat for the more 
delicate appetite, placed their pork upon the nicely-sharp- 
ened end of a long stick, and stood patiently roasting it 
in the fire, while others ate heartily of raw p'ork and 
bread sandwiched ; all enio}'ed their repast with zest. Tired 
and sleepy, at last the men arranged their blanket couch 
upon the earth, the fire at their leet, the trunk of a fillen 



208 MADISON COUNTV. 

tree at their head, and, it may be inferred, soon sank into 
profound sleep — dreamless, possibly, unless the bright eyes 
and rosy lips of some buxom German lass, seen during the 
journey, may have haunted the slumbers of some one of 
them ; or, quite as likely, the faint outlines of an unrolled 
panorama of the land they were just now entering to take 
possession, exhibiting the wondrous destiny of its future, to 
be consummated through the instrumentality of those un- 
conscious sleepers, may have lingered in the oblivious 
moments of that portion of them whose aspiring natures, 
when in full consciousness, were prone to part asunder the 
mists, and behold the possibilities of the far future. How- 
ever, with the night, fled dreams, if they had them, and all 
were soon wide awake for the yet-to-be-surmounted obstacles 
of the present. After a breakfast of bread and pork, Mr. 
Lincklaen and Mr. Foreman, anxious to complete the jour- 
ney, started on ahead, leaving the men to follow as soon as 
they were ready. They kept the Indian path with their 
one horse (the other being taken by the man who went for 
the extra pair of oxen), following the custom of "ride and 
tie," — that is, one rides a distance, and when considerably 
in advance of his comrade, dismounts and fastens the horse 
to a sapling, leaving it for the other to mount when he 
reaches it, while the former walks on and is overtaken and 
passed by the latter, who in turn dismounts and walks on ; 
thus alternating to the end of a journey. 

On arriving at the outlet of the lake, they discovered a 
bark cabin, and some signs of the proximity of white men. 
There was here a little prairie, called in those days an " In- 
dian opening," upon which Mr. Lincklaen turned loose his 
faithful horse, " Captain," placed his saddle, bridle, and port- 
manteau in the hut, and then with his companion strolled 
about to view the location. He was delighted with the pros- 
pect ; waking visions of a brilliant future he surely beheld 
now. " Here," he says, " I pitch my tent ; here I build my vil- 
lage." As night drew nigh, three strangers approached the 



CAZENOVIA. 



209 



cabin, who, after the usual salutations were passed, were 
found to be Joseph Atwell, Charles Roe and ■ Barthol- 
omew, from Pompey Hollow. They were here improving 
the advantages of a fishing weir, which the Indians had con- 
structed at the outlet of the lake. When these new com- 
ers displayed their supper, discovering that our pioneers 
could not follow suit, they kindly invited them to join in 
the repast, which consisted of the inevitable bread and pork, 
and most cordially was the offer accepted. 

There were many misgivings as to the delay of the men 
with the supply cart, for whom they had been anxiously 
looking some hours ; but not arriving, the two prepared 
for a less auspicious repose than even that of the preced- 
ing night. In the weather-beaten hut, with one saddle 
between them for a pillow, and guarded by their watchful 
mastiff " Lion," — " Captain " still feeding on the prairie 
near by, — John Lincklaen and Samuel S. Foreman slept 
that night in the future village of Cazenovia. When 
morning came, no tidings of the men had reached them, and 
Mr. Lincklaen started back early in quest of the party. 
About ten o'clock Mr. Foreman concluded to follow, and 
accordingly saddled the horse and placed the portmanteau 
thereon, which, though it contained ^500 in silver, could 
not procure him the wherewith to satisfy his hunger. On 
his way he met Jedediah Jackson and Joseph Yaw, two 
commissioners stnt by a Company in Vermont, to "spy 
out the land" in Township No. i. They had met Mr. 
Lincklaen, who referred them to Mr. Foreman to direct 
them to Nelson. This service rendered, he passed on, and 
at two o'clock he met Swartz with a budget of food, which 
greatly rejoiced his physical man. From Swartz he learned 
that the cart had broken down not far from where they 
had been left the morning before. Repairs had been made, 
and with slow progress the party were on their way. With 
care and painstaking they moved down the uneven slope 
to the lake ; and on the afternoon of the 8th day of ]\Iay, 



2IO MADISON COUNTY. 

1793, this little company stopped and pitched their tents a 
little west of a small ravine, nearly opposite the residence 
of the late Ledyard Lincklaen, at the south end of the 
lake. 

One of the two tents was fitted up for the convenience 
of Messrs, Lincklaen and Foreman, the other appropriated 
to the use of the hired men ; and then plans were laid for 
the construction of houses. Two log structures were soon 
built ; one for a dwelling" house and store, the other for the 
hired people. They stood on the south shore of the lake, 
in what was then the white oak grove, but now one no longer. 
The aged trees have fallen one by one, till only a 
single tree is standing, and that bears the marks of 
decay, sadly reminding us of the grandeur of its fellows. 
For their noble beauty and lofty bearing ; for their grateful 
shade in summer heat ; for the many memories clustering 
about them, these oaks were held in sacred reverence by 
the members of Mr. Lincklaen's household, and by them 
have their broken limbs and shattered trunks been fash- 
ioned into various artistically finished articles for use and 
adornment, which grace their long cherished home. 

" During the two or three weeks subsequent to their arrival, 
the company managed admirably in household matters without 
feminine assistance, by having their washing and baking done at 
Jacob Schuyler's, a German living at Chittenango ; nevertheless, 
one evening about sunset, on being told that a woman on horse- 
back was approaching the settlement, all ran out with haste to 
witness the strange sight ; and pleasanter indeed the rough 
cabins looked when afterwards graced by the presence of wo- 
man. This lady was a Mrs. Dumont, who with her husband 
came to view the place, and then passed on to Cayuga Lake. 

Mr. Lincklaen had advertised extensively by hand-bills, that 
he opened these lands for sale on a credit of ten years, with only 
$10 down on each lot, and interest on the balance to be paid an- 
nually, with a further condition of clearing ten acres and building 
a log dwelling on each lot. Nathaniel Locke was employed to 
survey these lands, which were to be laid out in lots of one hundred 
acres each. Mr. Lincklaen also advertised that the first ten fam- 
ilies should have one hundred acres at $1 per acre. This pro- 
posal brought on that number quite unexpectedly, from between 



CAZLNOVIA. 211 

Utica and Cazenovia. Some enterprising young people it was 
said, abbreviated their courtsliip in order to avail themselves of 
this offer. The first families came without having first viewed 
the land or prepared a residence, and the workmen who occu- 
pied the large tent generously vacated it for their use in common, 
and went themselves to live in a log house partly finished. The 
names of the heads of some of these families were : Archibald 
Bates, Noah Taylor, Benjamin Pierson, Anson Deane, William 
Gillett and Isaac Nichols. Mrs. Noah Taylor was the first 
white woman who came to live in Cazenovia. The first birth 
was a child of Isaac Nichols, — his eldest daughter, Milison, — 
born at his house on the east bank of Cazenovia Lake, August 
8th, 1793. The second child (born in 1794,) was a child of Noah 
Taylor. 

As the settlers increased, many desiring large farms, repre- 
sented to Mr. Lincklaen that a hundred acres was not enough 
for a farm, and wished he would run out the land into one hundred 
and fifty acre lots. This was complied with after reserving two 
miles across the north end of Road Township. This reservation 
was afterwards run out into smaller lots of from ten to fifty or 
si.xty acres, for the benefit of the future village." 

Road Township was now divided, forming four towns, 
which Mr. Lincklaen named as follows : First, Road Town- 
ship, to perpetuate the original name. This town extended 
from the north line of the reservation (center of Seminary- 
street), southward a distance, to include four tiers of lots in 
the present town of DeRuyter ; Second, Tromp Township ; 
after Admiral Von Tromp, renowned in the history of the 
Dutch Navy, for whom this loyal lover of noble men enter- 
tained a profound veneration. This Township embraced 
the remainder of the present town of DeRuyter and six and 
a half tiers of lots in Lincklaen ; Third, DeRuyter, named 
in honor of another famous Dutch Naval officer, Admiral De- 
Ruyter.* This township embraced the south six tiers of lots 
in Lincklaen, and the town of Pitcher ;;/z«.'/i- the south three 
tiers of lots. Fourth, Brackel Township, named from Ad- 
miral Brackel, — also of the Dutch Navy, — which embraced 
the southern three tiers of lots in Pitcher and all of the 
present town of German. As an Act of the Legislature rd- 

*Admirals Von Tromp and DeRuyter were Generals of renown about the 
middle of the seventeenth century. 



212 MADISON COUNTV. 

quired a certain amount ot* po})ulation to organize a ne\%^ 
town, Cazenovia required a witle territory, to embrace a 
sufficient nimiber, wiien it was formed in 1795 ; conse- 
quently these first names, given by tlie proprietor, were 
dropped after a time, for the first town of Cazenovia in- 
cluded all their territory. In the subsequent division of 
towns, Cazenovia embraced Road TowMiship ; the name ot 
DeRuyter was transferred to Tromp Township ; Lincklaen 
to the original DeRuyter, and German was substituted for 
Brackel. 

"After the first ten families had received their lands, the price 
was established at $1.50 per acre. 80 rapid were the sales, set- 
tlers even followed the surv-eyors. As soon as two sides of a lot 
were ascertained, they would take down the number and hasten 
to the office to have it booked ; and often a person had to name 
several lots before he could get one that had not been engaged 
a few moments before him. At last the press became so great, 
that it became necessary to suspend the sales for a few daj's, for 
fear of mistakes. 

A road was opened the whole extent of the purchase, which 
passed through New Woodstock, Sheds Corners, DeRuyter and 
the southern towns, to facilitate the opening of the whole for set- 
tlement. A branch office was opened in connection with a store, 
twentv-six miles south of Cazenovia, under the care of Adonijah 
Schuyler, one of the Cazenovia clerks, and Mr. Lincklaen 
caused the first mills in that section to be built on the Otselic 
Creek. 

A portion of the location for the future village lay, as we have 
seen, in the New Petersburgh tract. In negotiations with Peter 
Smith, the desired amount of land to complete the village site 
was obtained ; and at the north end of Road Township on the 
east side of the lake, on a point of land bounded on three sides 
by the lake and its outlet (which soon after its disemboguement 
takes a northerly direction and runs parallel with the east shore 
of the lake), the village of Cazenovia was laid out. This was in 
the summer of 1794. Calvin Guitteau was the person cm- 
ployed to make the survey. 

The first sales of village lots were at $5 per acre, with certain 
conditions to improve by building. The Companj'^ built a large, 
elegant frame house, about fifty feet square and two stories 
high, and covered the roof with sheet lead ; but after a few years 
this was taken off, probably because it could not be made tight. 
This house took fire twice. The second time it was destroved. 



CAZETVOVIA. 2r3 

with a large quantity of elegant furniture. The site was after- 
wards purchased by Perry G. Childs, Esq., who built upon it. 
It is now the location of the residence of Sidney T. Fairchild. 

The latter part of this summer, 1794, a number of Hollanders 
came to the settlement on their way to the Holland Purchase. 
They were Mr. Rossetta (a brother-in-law of Mr. Cazenove), 
Col. Mappa, Mr. Boon, Mr. Heudekooper, and perhaps some 
others, Mr. Lincklaen accompanied them on their journey. 
While they were absent Mr. William Morris came, on his return 
from the Holland Company's purchase in the western part of the 
State. While he was staying to rest himself at the Road Town- 
ship, he was taken sick with what was termed the ' lake fever,' 
and was for a few days very ill. The country did not afford very 
skillful physicians at that time, but by the aid of ' Huchan's 
Family Physician ' and good nursing, he recovered. While in a 
state of convalescence the subject of the name of the contem- 
plated village was canvassed ; Mr. Lincklaen had wished to call 
it Hamilton, as he was a great admirer of Gen. Alexander Ham- 
ilton's character ; but the settlers in one of the adjoining town- 
ships adopted that name for their settlement before a decision 
was arrived at, so it was dropped. On Mr. Lincklaen's return, 
Mr. Morris told him they had found a good name for the vil- 
lage ; that they called it Cazenovia, in honor of their respected 
mutual friend, Theophilus Cazenove. This was cordially ap- 
proved, and so it was established." 

The lake also was named, and in honor of John Linck- 
laen. On all the early maps the lake bore no other name 
than " Lincklaen's Lake." In later years, when the village 
had grown into some importance, it gradually came to be 
known as " Cazenovia Lake," and more recently the 
aboriginal name, " Owahgena," has become quite generally 
adopted by use. 

The first ten acre job, of clearing the heavy timbered land, 
was taken by James Green and David Fay, next to the 
Cazenove lot on the west side of the lake, on the original 
Tillotson farm, now owned by Mr. A. Blodgett. The price 
was $10 per acre with board, and six cents per bushel for 
ashes cribbed on the job. Wages were then $8 per month 
and board. 

In speaking of the settlers of this purchase, Maj. Fore- 
man says : " be it said to their credit, I believe there was 



214' MADISON COUNTY. 

but one person who took up a lot of land during the first 
four years, while I continued in office, who could not write 
his name." 

The Vermonters had made arrangements to take up 
their farms in township No. i, (Nelson) before that town 
should be offered for sale, as their company was large and 
they wished to settle near each other. By the time the 
Vermont Company had arrived, however, the whole town- 
ship was surveyed into lots of one hundred and fifty acres 
each, Mr. Lincklaen having pushed forward the work. 
Jackson and Yaw, the committee sent out to explore, and 
some of the hired men of Mr. Lincklaen's company, were a 
part of the settlers of this township. 

At this period game was plenty ; small droves of deer 
were frequently seen ; there were a few otters and an occa- 
sional beaver, and bears were often met with. To these 
pioneers from long established and cultivated homes in 
town and city, the sports of the chase were exciting ; but 
an encounter with a veritable black bear was an adventure 
to move one deeper. The following is related in Foreman's 
narrative : 

"One winter a Mr. Walthers (a respectable European German 
in the Company's service,) and myself were viewing a lot of 
land which we had bought on the west side of the lake, after- 
wards called Cazenove lot. As we walked along, our dogs ga\e 
alarm of game. We hurried to the spot, and coming up to a 
very large hollow tree, we encouraged the dogs to attack what- 
soever was concealed within it. Presently a little terrier dog 
was drawn almost within the body of the tree, in a small hole 
near the ground. In order to rescue him we thrust a stick in 
through another hole, which the animal seized and held fast till 
we pulled his nose out of the tree ; but what creature it was we 
knew not. The dog ran home bleeding. We got a large pole 
and run the butt end into the hole, and Walthers held fast the 
other end as a lever, while I ran to the farm house to get a gun 
and some hands with axes to engage in the combat. When I 
returned with the reinforcements, I found Mr. Walthers as I had 
left him, grasping the lever, and anxious to be relieved from his 
state of incertitude. Our first business was to secure the hole 
by driving down large stakes interlocked with logs; then cut 



CAZENOVIA. 215 

three windows in the body of the tree about four feet high and 
seven or eight inches in diameter, so that we could have a fair 
view of the animal ; and we now discovered it to be what we 
had expected, a large bear. A discharge from the gun wounded 
it, when it became raving mad. It raised its huge paws upon 
its prison wall, put its nose out, gnashed its teeth and frothed at 
the mouth, and its eyes bespoke retaliation if it was set at 
liberty. The gun was loaded and fired a second time, produc- 
ing only a wound. As we were perfectly safe we paused awhile 
to view how awful its angry looks and actions were. A third 
discharge from the gun proved fatal and poor Bruin fell lifeless. 
Our next business was to cut one of those windows large 
enough to get it out of the tree. We had three or four men 
from the farm, and after being satisfied that life was extinct, 
some of them entered the winter quarters of the animal, and 
after some heavy lifting, our game was landed out of its strong- 
hold. It was conveyed to the village on a hand sled, across the 
lake, and when dressed, the four quarters were found to weigh 
(if I recollect right) four hundred pounds. It was a female with 
young of two cubs. The skin was very black and finely covered. 
The meat I gave to the men, and four dollars for the skin. 
This afforded them fine feasting and pleasure. 

" Another time, when the jobbers set fire to their clearmg by 
the swamp, near where Mr. Lincklaen built his last house, the 
fire drove a large bear out, which passed through the village ai d 
cleared himself, as no one was prepared to follow. At anothi r 
time a man passed a large bear and her cub, about half a mile 
up the lake road. He came to the store and gave information, 
and we mustered a dozen men and went in pursuit. They had 
ascended a large leaning oak. We had but one gun and no 
balls, nothing but slug and shot ; but such as we had we gave 
mistress Bruin, and perhaps hurt her some, as, after receiving 
several charges, she all at once descended to a crotch in the 
tree, about twelve or fifteen feet from the ground, and putting 
her head between her fore legs, threw herself off. As soon as she 
touched the ground, as many as could stand around fell upon 
her with clubs and other weapons, so that she never rose to her 
feet. Having disposed of the dam, our next move was to get 
little Bruin, who by this time had ascended as high as he could 
get, where the limbs would bear him. We commenced firing 
shot at the little creature ; every time it was fired at, it would 
wipe its face with its paws ; at last one shot proved fatal, and 
brought it to the ground. It was about half as large as a mid- 
3ing-sized dog. 

" At another time, on Togwattle Hill, [Tog Hill] as it was 
called, in Nelson, about five miles from Cazenovia, east, a wo- 



2l6 MADISON COUNTY. 

man was washing out of doors by her house, her husband being 
off at work, and her child sitting near by her, a bear came close 
up to her and reared upon his hinder feet. She, as may well be 
conjectured, not liking his appearance, caught up her child, ran 
into the house, and instead of inviting her guest in, fastened the 
door against him. These brutes are so bold, that they have 
been known to come in the night and try to get into the hog- 
pens, built near the log dwellings, the inmates of which, having 
been alarmed by the noise, have got up and made war upon 
them. These little incidents seem small to an indifferent per- 
son ; but they created great interest at the time, and relieved 
the monotony of back wood's life. The recital of them serves to 
show that the settlement of a wilderness is attended with diffi- 
culties and dangers in various ways." 

Wolves v^^ere more prevalent than bears, and to rid the 
country of these enemies of the flocks, the town in 1804, 
voted to give a bounty of twenty dollars for each wolf 
killed the ensuing year by any inhabitant of the town. 

Among the earliest settlers of the town in 1793, besides 
those already named, were Archibald Bates, William 
Mills, Ira Peck, Nathan Webb, Shubal Brooks, and others 

named Tyler and Atigur. David and Jonathan 

Smith and Charleville Webber, came about the same time 
and were the first settlers of New Woodstock. William 
Sims and Isaac Moss came soon after. 

The first saw mill and grist mill were built by John 
Lincklaen in 1794. The grist mill was located on the 
Chittenango Creek, perhaps a quarter of a mile above 
where it unites with the outlet of the lake, — ^just below 
the steep bank at the corner of the garden, contiguous to 
the residence ot General J. D. Ledyard ; the mill pond 
overflowed all that low meadow south of his house. This 
mill the company sold to Dr. Jonas Fay, and it was, not 
long after, burned down, together with a distillery and 
brewery. Afterwards a better site was discovered below 
the junction just named, where the present mills (in 1870,) 
owned by Parsons & Chaphe now stand. 

Judutha Perkins came to Cazenovia before 1800, and 
settled south of the village in what was called, from him. 



CAZENOVIA. 217 

the " Perkins District." Near him the well remembered 
Perkins school house was built, in which the early religious 
meetings of the Baptist Church of Cazenovia village were 
held. Mr. Perkins and his family were prominent and 
influential people, and did much towards building up good 
society. 

A Mr. Stanley was one of the pioneers of 1794 ; he came 
in with his family from Hartford, Conn. His son Lewis 
Stanley, who came with him, was a farmer, and located 
near the village, where he lived till his death in 1857, aged 
76 years. The latter was prominent in the M. E. Church ; 
he did much towards founding it and promoting its growth 
and prosperity. He was also deeply interested in the 
success of the Seminary. 

Walter Childs, from Woodstock, Conn., came in 1798; 
he was one of the substantial farmers of this locality, and 
reared a family, members of which still reside in town. 

Among the first inhabitants of the town after 1800, was 
Caleb Van Riper, who arrived in 1801, and settled at the 
head of the lake. He built perhaps the second tannery 
in town, on the stream that crosses lot No. 34, now owned 
by William B. Downer ; it stood about forty rods from the 
lake. A saw mill was also built here at a later c'ate, but 
both tannery and mill have disappeared, except perhaps 
some ruins of the foundation and dyke of the saw mill. 

Phineas Southwell came, in 1802, from Boonville, Oneida 
County, but formerly from Massachusetts. Edward Parker 
came the same year ; both settled at the head of the lake, 
and bought large farms. The land purchased by Southwell 
was, apparently, that which had been tilled by the Indians, 
as some fifteen acres of it bore evidences of having been 
cultivated but a few years previous. The large timber had 
been removed, and a low undergrowth encumbered the 
ground ; the soil was black, quite likely from annual burn- 
ings. Upon this farm — Lot No. 32, School District No. 5 
— were found many relics referred to in preceding pages > 



2l8 MADISON COUNTY. 

and G. R. Southwell, son of Phineas, who now owns the 
farm, has many of these curiosities in his possession. During 
the elder Southwell's first years of residence here, the In- 
dians frequently came over the lake in their birch-bark 
canoes to fish, and perhaps hunt deer, which, as has been 
seen, were plenty. 

Christopher Webb moved from Canterbury, Windham 
County, Conn., in 1805, and settled on Lot No. 29. Martin 
L. Webb, son of Christopher, came at the same time, and 
settled here also, and lor many years was a teacher in* Caz- 
enovia. 

Edward Parker built the first frame house in this vicinity 
(head of the lake,) about 1802. It was with difficulty that 
he could obtain sawed lumber, but so great was his repug- 
nance to living in a log house, he mastered all difficulties, 
so that when he commenced housekeeping, it was as he 
desired, in a framed and boarded house, instead of a log 
one. 

The first town meeting in Cazenovia was held in April, 
1795, at John Lincklaen's house. At this meeting John 
Lincklaen was chosen supervisor, and Elijah Risley* town 
clerk. 

In 1798, when Chenango County was formed, the town 
of DeRuyter, which embraced all the southern part of the 
original Road Township, was taken off In 1800 the town, 
still embracing Sullivan, Lenox, Smithfield, Nelson and 
Fenner, had a population of 1,973. 

In 1803, the census of Cazenovia village was taken, with 
the names of the heads of families, their occupations, and 
number of persons in each household, as follows : — 

* Elijah Risley subsequently became justice of the peace. At a very early day, 
an Indian couple came to Squire Risley 's, and were by him married. Soon after, 
becoming dissatisfied, owing to the reproaches of their Indian friends, who disliked 
their conformity to the custom of the whites, they called again to be unmarried. 
The minister being present, they were persuaded to be re-married by him in- 
stead, when they departed, appearing quite well pleased with the additional cere- 
mony. 



CAZENOVIA. 219 

John Lincklaen 6 

|. N. M. Hurd, store keeper and postmaster 7 

"S. S. Breese, lawyer 4 

Hiram Roberts, blacksmith and tavern keeper 17 

Isaac Lyman, doctor 4 

Wm. Whipple, carpenter and constable 4 

Moses Phillips, brickmaker 4 

Roberts & Hill, carpenters 6 

Elisha Farnham, tanner and shoemaker 7 

Eliakim Roberts, store keeper 9 

Horace Paddock, blacksmith _ 3 

Ebenezer Johnson, tavern keeper 10 

William Kyle, clerk 4 

Jonathan Foreman, storekeeper 9 

Samuel Ashard, miller 6 

Total inhabitants 100 

The population of the whole of the original Road Tov^n- 
ship at the same date, including the village, was 1,164. 

Several of the heads of families just named, as well as 
some of those mentioned as the pioneers of '93, were men 
of ability and influence in the councils, and at other import- 
ant posts in the new country. 

Samuel Sidney Breese was the first clerk of Chenango 
County, 1798, and was a member of the Convention of 
1821. Jonathan Foreman was elected Member of Assem- 
bly from Chenango County, in 1800 and 1801. J. N. M. 
Hurd was county clerk in 1815, and served till 1821. James 
Green, one of the pioneers of '93, was at one time a member 
of the Legislature. Stephen F, Blackstone, another of that 
company, was a member of the Legislature in 1814. 

Jeremiah Whipple, also an early settler, and for many 
years a first-class hotel keeper in the village, was the first 
sheriff of Madison County, appointed in 1806, continuing in 
office till 1 8 10, and was called to act again in the same ca- 
pacity in 181 1, serving till 18 14. 

William Sims was a pioneer of 1793 ; he took up a farm 
south of Cazenovia village, where he spent three score and ten 
years of his life. He possessed wealth, was a man of influence, 
and contributed largely to the enterprises of his adopted town. 



220 MADISON COUNTY. 

Henrick DeClercq, a native of Amsterdam, Jiolland, 
came to Cazenovia in 1800. His wife, Mary, whose maiden 
family name was Ledyard, came to this town on horseback, 
from Connecticut, in the year 1798. Her father, G. S. 
Ledyard, with his relative and namesake. Col. Ledyard, was 
killed at Groton, in the massacre of Fort Griswold, in the 
Revolution. The DeClercqs became an established and 
permanent family of Cazenovia. 

Capt. E. S. Jackson was an early settler and wealthy. 
In all that pertained to the interests and welfare of the new 
country, Capt. Jackson's good judgment was solicited, and 
his ever ready generosity assisted. 

Perry G. Childs located in Cazenovia before 1806. His 
name is closely identified with the several interests of the 
town, as will be seen in the current history of her earlier 
enterprises. His wealth was generously used for the public 
good. He was repeatedly honored with official positions in 
town. County and State. 

Charles Stebbins settled here before 18 10. He and his 
family after him have worthily held a commanding influ- 
ence through all the changes from the early days to the 
present time. Town, County and State official honors have 
descended from father to sons ; their names are often and 
honorably recorded. ' 

Elihu Severance also came to this town previous to 1810. 
Members of his family still reside here. 

Jacob Ten Eyck came about 1800. He acquired wealth 
and used it generously to forward the enterprises of Caze- 
novia, not a little of it being devoted to perfecting the 
beauty of the village environs. The same spirit of gener- 
osity, in the aid of progress generally, animates the different 
members of his family. 

B. T. Clarke came to Cazenovia in 18 12, being a soldier 
in the war at that time. Mr. Clarke has been and still is 
one of the active men of the village in improvements and en- 
terprises. He has retired from the mercantile business, 



CAZENOVIA. 221 

which he pursued for many years at the corner of Albany 
and Mill streets. 

William M. Burr came prior to 1810. His, became an- 
other of the prominent and substantial families of the vil- 
lage. At an early day Cazenovia gained a high reputation 
as a mercantile center, and to such men as the Burrs, Ten 
Eycks, Clarkes and others, this reputation is due. 

J. D. Ledyard, youngest brother of Mrs. John Lincklaen 
and adopted son of Mr. Lincklaen, was reared in Cazenovia 
and has spent the most of the years of his long life, (aged 
seventy-eight in 187 1,) in this town. Mr. Ledyard has 
been identified with nearly all the progressive changes of 
this town. As will be seen, his name and the names of his 
sons are not to be separated from Cazenovia's history. 
Having charge of the Holland Land Company's office, as 
successor of Mr. Lincklaen, since 1820, his business was 
large and his influence extensive. He still resides near the 
foot of the Lake in a dwelling built by himself in 1825, 
which, with the homes of his sons, all commanding fine 
views of fair Owahgena, render attractive that part of the 
village which was first occupied by civilization. 

The wealth of Cazenovia, generously yet judiciously in- 
vested, has brought its legitimate and ample returns ; it has 
been and still is used, not for selfish ends, but to beautify 
and adorn, to elevate and purify country life. 



In the year 1803, February 22d, a Legislative act was 
passed, in which the broad territory of Cazenovia was again 
made less by the organization of the town of Sullivan, a 
most expansive township, including the present towns of 
Sullivan, Lenox, and a part of Stockbridge. 

After this last change in the town limits, the next town 
meeting in Cazenovia of which a record has been kept, was 
held at the house of Capt. Ebenezer Johnson, in the village, 
in the year 1804. Luther Waterman was Moderator. 
James Green was elected Supervisor ; Eliphalet Jackson, 



222 MADISON COUNTY. 

Town Clerk and Elisha Williams, Collector. Among 
other enactments, the meeting voted to refund to Lemuel 
Kingsbury the sum of $6. i8 for "bad taxes." The follow- 
ing was also voted : " That members of this meeting may 
wear their hats while attending said meeting ;" — and to give 
value to this permission, and for the accommodation of the 
people, the meeting then adjourned to the Common. The 
constables were directed to procure sufficient bail, and 
seven pound masters were elected to enforce the following 
resolution, viz : " That hogs shall be shut up." Twenty 
dollars of town fund was delivered to the town clerk to pro- 
cure books for the use of the town, and he was instructed to 
" draft off such of the old books as he shall think neces- 
sary." It does not appear that this officer deemed it 
" necessary" to copy any part, as it was not done, and the 
loss of the first book is irreparable. The town was divided 
into sixty-eight road districts. 

To unite the inhabitants of the more northern portions of 
the county, which were earliest settled, to make easy their 
communication with eastern friends, and to facilitate their 
market journey ings, the " Cazenovia and Oneida Turnpike " 
was laid out at an early day ; it extended from Cazenovia 
through Peterboro to Vernon. The necessities of the other 
towns, however, required for them a more direct communi- 
cation with the outer world ; and the "Third Great West- 
ern Turnpike," or the more familiar name ot " Cherry Val- 
ley Turnpike," was the result of these needs. The enter- 
prising prime movers in this grand scheme of constructing 
a good wagon road from Cherry Valley to Manlius, Onon- 
daga County, through towns and counties of dense forests, 
over the most hilly country known outside of veritable 
mountainous districts, with no rich towns along the route 
to bond, or even to aid them by subscription, formed a com- 
pany, went courageously into the work, obtained a charter 
and completed the grand enterprise by 1 806. Cazenovia 
men were foremost in the great work, devoting their time 



CAZENOVIA. 223 

and investing their capital without prospect of full compen- 
sation. 

CAZENOVIA VILLAGE. 

This village was laid out in a regular, methodical manner: 
The public square was handsomely located in full view of 
the lake, and through it passed Albany street, laid broad 
and with mathematical regularity, with a view to the future 
needs of a large village. In the vicinity of the square were 
erected some of the earliest and most prominent buildings, 
and upon its four corners were located the four stores of the 
early days, viz : the Roberts store, the Foreman store, that 
of J. N. M. Hurd, and the store of Jackson & Lyman, the 
latter on the northeast corner. The Robert's store on the 
southeast corner, now the " Lake House," was originally 
built of wood, but at a later date Mr. Roberts removed 
that, and rebuilt of brick, where for a time he transacted 
mercantile business. In 1810, it was purchased by Jos. & 
Wm. M. Burr, who, like Jacob Ten Eyck, their neighbor 
and relative, established a large business. A few years 
since this building was converted into a hotel. The Fore- 
man store, located on the southwest corner, was stocked by 
the Holland Company, and the first postofhce was kept 
there, at the private expense of Mr. Lincklaen, till its own 
revenue was sufficient to sustain it as a government office, 
when S. S. Breese was appointed postmaster by the P. O. 
Department. At the northwest corner was the well known 
store of J. N. M. Hurd, where in 1803, the postoffice was 
kept by him, and who held the commission for many years 
after. 

The first tavern of the village was situated on the loca- 
tion of Mrs. Roberts' present residence, and was kept by 
Ebenezer Johnson. 

Some really fine residences, and also the Presbyterian 
meeting house, were built previous to 18 10, at which date 
the census gave Cazenovia village a population of 500 
inhabitants, sixty-nine houses, five stores, one grain 



224 MADISON COUNTY. 

mill, one saw mill, two cloth-dressing establishments, two 
carding machines, two trip hammeries, two potasheries, two 
tanneries, one brewery and distillery, and a post-office.* To 
this statement may be added one printing office. "The 
Pilot," established in 1808, by Oran E. Baker, was one of 
the popular and successful institutions of the village. From 
its time-honored pages may be learned, not so much by its 
local items, but in a great degree from its ancient advertise- 
ments, that manufacturers, mechanics and artizans were 
successfully pursuing their several trades. A woolen fac- 
tory, where custom work of wool-carding and cloth-dressing 
was done, became the property of Matthew Chandler, hav- 
ing been purchased by him of its original proprietors, Elisha 
Starr & Co. The new tannery of Thomas Williams & Son, 
promises much prosperity to the importers of hemlock bark 
from the farming districts. There is a hat factory belong- 
ing to John Brevoort & Jere Allis ; A. Hitchcock adds to 
his newly-opened store a stock of drugs and medicines ; S. 
Foreman opens a book store ; J. Gillett advertises as clock 
and watch maker ; J. Kilbourn as tailor ; W, Brown as 
painter and glazier ; Mr. White's chair factory receives 
some notice, while Luther Bunnell's trip hammeries are 
known to be conducted with superior skill and enterprise. 
Thus is given in this old-time journal a glimpse of the in- 
dustries of the village at and about 18 10. 

One of the great institutions of this period was the mili- 
tary brigade, which had been formed in Madison County 
under the command of Gen. Jonathan Foreman, a former 
Colonel in the War of the Revolution ; and for the use of 
the militia when their headquarters were made in Cazenovia, 
a fine parade ground was laid out about 18 10, in the 
northern part of the village. 

The Cherry Valley Turnpike brought Cazenovia into 
special notice, and placed it on an equal footing with towns 
of established reputation further east ; and no village in the 

* See Spaffbrd's Gazetteer of 1811. 



CAZENOVIA. 



225 



county had greater consequence and influence than this. 
From the time of the formation of the county to this date, 
(18 10,) it had been looked upon as a suitable location for 
the county seat of the Courts of Justice, and had become 
so temporarily ; consequently, the first criminal pun- 
ished for murder in Madison County, was executed here. 
This one was Hitchcock, the wife poisoner, who had been 
confined in Whitestown jail, and was tried (in 1807) at a 
court held in Judge Smalley's barn, in the town of Sullivan, 
whence he was taken to Cazenovia and hung. The gal- 
lows was erected about a half mile east of the village, on 
the farm now owned by Cyrus Parsons, near where his 
dwelling now stands. Jeremiah Whipple was sheriff. 

The county seat proper, was located here in 18 10, — not, 
however, without some opposition from rival towns. Col. 
John Lincklaen and Capt. Eliphalet Jackson were appointed 
to superintend the building of the court house. A fine 
brick building was erected at a cost of upwards of ^4,000, 
on the site where the seminary is located, and is now a part 
of the latter edifice, having been, on the removal of the 
county seat to Morrisville, purchased by the Methodist So- 
ciety for a church, and finally used by the Oneida Confer- 
ence as their seminary. The characteristic style of 
architecture belonging to the old court house, readily dis- 
tinguishes that part of the structure as it now stands, but it 
is in no wise inferior in appearance* to that which has been 
added to it. The first courts were held here in 1812. 

Cazenovia was the first village incorporated in Madison 
County, the date of the act, giving it a corporate identity, 
being Februrary 7th, 1810. • The first village officers, 
elected the May following, were : — Jonas Fay, President ; 
Perry G. Childs, Elisha Farnham, Eliphalet S. Jackson and 
Samuel Thomas, Trustees. With her industries all 
flourishing and her prosperity promoted in every direction, 
Cazenovia village gradually increased. The Baptist and 
Methodist Churches were soon established ; and although 



226 MADISON COUNT'S'. 

the county seat was removed in 1817 to Morrisville, an 
institution of learning grew up in its place, which exerted 
a beneficent influence upon the interests of community. 

From 1830 to '35, here, as in all sections of Central New 
York, there seemed to have been given a new impetus to 
all departments of business ;' the manufacturers and mer- 
chants invested heavier and expanded their trade ; many 
farmers, having relieved themselves from debt and accu- 
mulated snug competencies for declining years, yielding to 
the impulse for improvement, now came forward and 
invested in village homes. During this period, several of 
the old and substantial blocks, now to be seen on Albany 
street, were built. All those handsome cut stone buildings, 
then the style in the eastern cities, were erected at this 
period, which gave Cazenovia an enviable reputation for its 
beauty. 

In 1840, the census states that this village contained 
1.600 inhabitants, 250 dwelling houses, one Presbyterian, 
one Baptist, one Congregational and one Methodist Church, 
three taverns, ten stores, two printing offices, one bank, the 
Oneida Conference Seminary, one woolen factory, one 
grist mill, one saw mill, one machine shop and iron foundry, 
one distillery, and one paper mill. 

The manufacturing facilities of the Chittenango, devel- 
oped a new growth to the village along the course of the 
stream, where new streets were laid out and were rapidly 
built up. At all periods the village seems to have been 
making progress in some direction. Since 1850, large 
blocks have risen, and some of the most beautiful residences 
have been built. Within a few years marked progress has 
been made in building. Among the many changes, we 
designate the fair proportions of the Ten Eyck Block, built 
in 1871. An " item" clipped from the "Oneida Dispatch," 
of Aug. 16, 1872, tells us that "the Reymon store is almost 
complete. It will be an ornament to the place. The 
Burr block is approaching completion ;" it is a building " that 



CAZENOVIA. 



227 



will not only be useful, but ornamental and beautifying to 
the locality." It also adds that a small steamboat named 
"Lottie," which is about thirty feet long, and will carry 
thirty or forty passengers, built by Mr. Charles Parmalee, 
has been launched upon the lake. 

The enterprise of Cazenovia in perfecting the beauty of 
her natural scenery, in developing the agricultural resources 
of the town, and in facilitating the means of commerce, is 
characteristic of its leading men. Its fair, sunny lake, with 
convenient boats for pleasure and for the sport of angling, — 
for Owahgena is yet stored with her native yellow perch, 
and other families of the finny tribe, perhaps beyond what 
it was in the pristine days of the Iroquois,* — the delightful 
drives and beautiful walks among groves around the lake ; 
the romantic road where the Chittenango rushes and 
splashes around great fragments of rock, and wild looking, 
precipitous ledges overhang the swift flowing stream ; 
where the atmosphere is aromatic with the breath of 
cedars, and where an adamantine ro£d bed leads to the 
wild gorge of the Chittenango Falls ; — these attractions, and 
many others, have made this village a delightful summer 
resort for the nature-loving, pavement-weary dwellers of 
large cities, who, coming here, find the luxury of refined 
homes and cultivated society superadded to the attractions 
of nature. 

Agriculture has been encouraged and developed to a 
high degree ; a tour through the town will corroborate this 
statement. Smooth meadows, well cultivated fields, 
cleanly kept woodlands, first-class farm buildings, and the 
evidences of wealth everywhere, on the hills as well as in 
the valleys, proclaim skilled training in agriculture. 

* "About sixty-four years ago, Amasaand Ezra Leland rook forty-five pickeral from 
Leland's pond, in the town of Eaton, and put them in our lake. For this service 
they received $40, this amount being raised by subscription in our town. A law 
was then passed by the Legislature, that no pickerel should be taken from Owah- 
gena lor ten years j and thus our waters were stocked with the beautiful fish which 
h.ive afforded so much amusement to fishermen, and supplied our table with delica- 
cies, " — Republican. 



228 MADISON COUNTY. 

Machinery has superseded hand labor ahnost invariably. 
Now, the farmer's refined daughter, pining for an out-door 
froHc, or what is more in her praise, ready and willing to 
assist in a pressure of farm work, may don her sun hat and 
gloves, take her seat upon the "mower," and in a few hours 
perform the same work, which in the days " lang syne," 
required half a dozen strong men to do in the same time,, 
bowed to the tedious labor of the scythe, with g?rments 
saturated with sweat, and backs blistering under the July 
sun. A comparison between ancient and modern farming,. 
is frequently indulged in by those who can remember when 
the first furrow was turned in town with a Mohawk wheel- 
plow, on the lot belonging to David Schuyler, near the out- 
let of the lake. 

In reviewing works of enterprise for the public welfare^ 
we find there are many instances of individual munificence 
which, we much regret, we are compelled to pass over. One 
instance, however, we record : — Those stone fountains by 
the road side, — one in Dist. No. 9, on the road to New 
Woodstock, one in Nelson, and one at the foot of the lake, 
— bearing the simple inscription "L. L."* carved on each, 
will perpetuate the memory of one who, having wealth, 
expended it in this and many another noble benefaction. 
(Note c.) 

MANUFACTURES. 

Cazenovia was noted for manufactures at a day when 
other towns were only making slow progress in agriculture. 

About 1 8 10, Luther Bunnell's trip-hammeries did an ex- 
tensive business, employing a number of workmen. Nehe- 
miah White built a chair shop at a very early day, which 
was bought out by Ebenezer Knowlton, who also built an 
oil mill about 181 5. Both of these were operated by Mr. 
Knowlton many years, had a good reputation, and drevv^ 
trade from a wide circuit round about. Mr. Lincklaen and 
Mr. Starr built the first woolen mill in 18 13. Starr was un- 

*Ledyard Lincklaen. 



CAZENOVIA. 229 

successful, owing to changes brought about by peace be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain, and sold to 
Matthew Chandler & Son.* This was the first woolen fac- 
tory in Madison Gounty. John Williams & Son purchased 
of Ghandler in 1828, and manufactured woolen goods on a 
large scale for that day. This firm continued to increase 
and improve till about 1834, when the mill was burned. 
Mr. Williams was regarded as a model manufacturer. As 
a business man his character was above reproach. }Ie sub- 
sequently, with others, built the Shelter Valley Mills. 

The Gazenovia Paper Mill was built by Zadoc Sweetland 
about 1 8 10, on the Ghittenango, within the limits of the cor- 
poration. For forty years Mr. Sweetland was gradually in- 
creasing his capital and enlarging his business. It event- 
ually passed into the hands of his sons, under the firm name 
of " Sweetland Bros.," who at one period manufactured a 
ton per day of all kinds of paper. It was burned in 1859 or 
'60, and was rebuilt by them. The dam, furnishing the 
power, was carried away in the great spring flood of 1865, 
which also swept off almost every bridge and dam between 
Erieville and Oneida Lake. The property was then pur- 
chased by Henry Munroe, who rebuilt the dam and put all 
in good order. It was afterwards partially destroyed by 
fire, then rebuilt ; then again overwhelmed by a conflagra- 
tion which left little. It remains now (1871,) a ruin, but 
will probably ere long be again restored. 

The tannery of Dardis & Flanagan was built before 1830, 
by Rufus & R. G. Allen. For two score years, while the 
hemlock forests of the surrounding towns were melting 
away, this firm, with a large corps of employees, transacted 
business on an extensive scale. From the beginning to the 
present time it has been a prosperous concern, and valuable 
to the country around as a marketing point for the several 

*About 1820, Mr. Chandler originated the idea of wire harness for weaving 
looms, and Ezra Brown invented machinery for making wire harness, and the busi- 
ness was very prosperous for a time. 



230 MADISON COUNTS. 

raw materials it most required. It is situated on the Chit- 
tenango, some distance from the corporation. 

Before 1810, there was a small tannery in the east part of 
the village which was for many years owned by John Wil- 
liams. Rufus Allen, before building, his works in the Chit- 
tenango Valley, purchased this of Mr. Williams and carried 
on the business here. 

Cedar Grove Woolen Mill was built about 1837, by E. S. 
Jackson & Son. It was purchased by Henry Ten Eyck in 
1850. Mr. Ten Eyck manufactured woolen tweeds. The 
mill had five sets of machinery, run by eighty hands. 
There were a number of dwelling houses, all occupied. The 
works were in fine order and paying well, when in 1852, 
the establishment was burned. Mr. Ten Eyck lost heavily 
and many people were thrown out of employment. 

Seven or eight years ago (in 1863 or '64), L. E. Swan 
built, on the grounds of the Cedar Grove Mill, a manufac- 
tory of binder's paper board, which is still in operation. 

Shelter Valley Woolen Mill was built in 1848, by the 
firm of Williams, Ledyard & Stebbins, of a capacity for three 
sets of woolen machinery. Tweeds were mostly manufac- 
tured here. With forty or fifty hands this mill turned off 
2,500 yards per week. In 1869, the factory was burned. 
On the same site, Messrs. Williams & Stebbins are (1871,) 
erecting a new mill on an improved plan, at a considerable 
outlay of capital. 

Fern Dell Sash, Blind and Door Factory, was»built by 
Ledyard Lincklaen in 185 1. It is now (i 871) owned by 
O. W. Sage & Co. The firm employ about forty-five hands 
and six teams ; use about 1,000,000 feet of pine lumber, 
twenty barrels of glue, two tons of finishing nails, and fifty 
reams of sand paper annually. They also turn out about 
18,000 doors, 15,000 pairs of blinds, and 250,000 lights of 
sash each year. 

All the foregoing manufactories were and are situated on 
the Chittenango Creek, a short distance from each other. 



CAZENOVIA. 231 

in the following order : The old Williams factory on Farn- 
ham street, between Albany and Williams streets ; the Caz- 
enovia Paper Mill next down stream ; the Cedar Grove 
Woolen Mill a short distance from the last, just outside the 
corporation ; next down stream the Tannery ; next the 
Sash and Blind factory ; and still further down the Shelter 
Valley Mills. On South street was situated the old Dis- 
tillery and Brewery of John Hersey, an institution of the 
past, widely known and largely patronized in its day* The 
Eagle Foundry was built on Albany street, south side, east 
of the creek, (Brewery Lane) by Elisha Allis, about 1842, 
but was subsequently moved up stream. It passed through 
various hands, and is now (1871,) carried on by Mr. James 
Dodge. 

Among the manufactories are, a Morocco Factory, located 
east of the village between Nelson and Peterboro streets, 
established by Mr. Phinney about 185 1, a fine General 
Machine Works on Albany street, (where the oil mill stood) 
owned and successfully conducted by Marshall O. Card, 
and a Lock Factory, where the American Lock Co., under 
the superintendence of Mr, Felter, make a variety of locks 
of excellent quality, well secured by ingenious mechanism 
from the arts of burglars, 

Bingley Mills, about two miles from the village, on Chit- 
tenango Creek, was one of the early flouring mills of th's 
section. It has been owned by Mr. William Atkinson sin<e 
September 12th, 1831.! This is a longer time than any 
other mill in town has been run by the same man. There 
is a saw mill near here, and some mechanics have also \c- 
cated near by. Some sixteen houses give Bingley quite the 
appearance of a hamlet. 



Madison County Bank was organized in Cazenovia, the 

*Mmy persons still living along the route, will remember the long and toil, me 
winter trips oi" Hersey s teams, pcriormed as late as 1^33, tVom Cazenovia ro L' ':j, 
each iiaulmg the standard load of two hogsheads of" spirits, 

■\ Died in 1871, siisce the above was written. 



232 MADISON COUNTY. 

date of its charter being- March 14th, 1 831, with a capital 
of ^100,000. Its first President was Perry G. Childs. It 
performed a successful business during the years of its ex- 
istence, upTio the expiration of its charter, January ist, 1858, 
The Bank of Cazenovia was incorporated February 21st, 
1856, with a capital of $120,000, secured by stocks and 
mortgages on real estate. The first board of directors 
were : Charles Stebbins, Ledyard Lincklaen, Benj. F. Jar- 
vis, John Hobbie, David M. Pulford, Austin" Van Riper, 
Lewis Raynor, Reuben Parsons and E. M. Holmes. The 
first officers were : Charles Stebbins, President ; B. F. 
Jarvis, Cashier. It survived the panic of 1857, and well 
maintained its reputation as a reliable institution. In 1865, 
it was changed to the National Bank of Cazenovia, with a 
capital of $150,000. Its present officers (1870) are: B. F. 
Jarvis, President ; Cyrus Parsons, Vice President ; C. B. 
Crandall, Cashier. 

CENTRAL NEW YORK CONFERENCE SEMINARY. 

In 1824, the project was originated to establish a Con- 
ference Seminary in Cazenovia. The proposition was, to 
take the court house and remodel it suitably for school use, 
and so release the Methodists — who had purchased it for a 
place of worship, and were in debt — from their oppressive 
liability. The public mind was, at the time, active in enter- 
prises ; various improvements were being originated ; liter- 
ature was on the advance, and receiving encouragement 
everywhere, and facilities, at this point, for higher grades 
in education, seemed to be imperatively demanded. Rev. 
Charles Giles, one of the most prominent ministers of the 
Conference, in his " Pioneer," writes : — 

" At this favorable juncture, I was fully convinced that the 
time had come for our Conference to engage in a public literary 
enterprise. Learning being an auxiliary to religion in every 
department of the Church, we, therefore, greatly needed a liter- 
ary institution, under the supervision and patronage of the Con- 
ference, and Providence, at this time, was opening a way for us 
to engage effectually in the undertaking." 

A village meeting was called ; much public spirit was mani- 



CAZENOVIA. 233 

fested, and the movement seemed to be indeed timely. It was 
embraced in the plan that the institution was to be conducted 
upon liberal principles ; sectarianism was to form no branch of 
instruction ; the students would be left free to attend any church 
of their choice. Rev. George Gary, Perry G. Childs, and John 
Williams, of Cazenovia, did all that could be done to give form 
and tangibility to the design, and Rev. Charles Giles carried it 
up to the next annual Conference to obtain official action upon 
it. The project seemed visionary, but a resolution was passed 
which gave sanction to the plan. Says the above writer : — 
"Still, some of the members imagined that it would end there, 
and perish like Jonah's gourd ; but no ; we were then provided 
with authority for action ; hence we moved onward, constitution- 
ally and with zeal, to test the liberality of our friends and the 
community around us. After struggling with opposition, and 
enduring many cares and embarrassments, our efforts were 
crowned with success, and the seminary finally became estab- 
lished." 

It was incorporated as the " Seminary of the Genesee 
Conference," in 1825 ; it was the first institution of that 
grade established by the Methodists on the American con- 
tinent. In 1829, the Oneida Conference was formed from 
a part of the territory belonging to the Genesee, and the 
name of the seminary was changed to " Seminary of Gene- 
see and Oneida Conference." In 1835, it was changed to 
" Oneida Conference Seminary," which name it retained 
until 1868, at which date a new Conference was formed, 
embracing Oneida, Oswego, Madison, Onondaga, Cayuga 
and Cortland counties, and named the " Central New York 
Conference," that of " Oneida Conference " being dropped. 
Subsequently, the seminary has taken on the name of the 
Conference as last instituted. 

The court house was a substantial brick building, stand- 
ing on a conspicuous and beautiful location ; it formed the 
nucleus of the present seminary buildings. In 1830, the 
court-house building was remodeled and added to, and now 
the whole presents a pleasing and noble appearance. 

From an historical poem, delivered by Rev. Dwight Wil- 
liams before Conference in Cazenovia, April 19, 1868, the 
subjoined is extracted : — 



234 MADISON COUNTY. 

" At the Conference call [1830] '] 

The young Oneida, with beginnings small, 
Musters her sons. Where now yon classic pile 
Lifts up its towers to greet the sunlight's smile, 
The first our infant Conference was called ; 
The Court-House building, old and yellow walled, 
Was then both learning and religion's shrine. 
And here our fathers met for work divine. 
Ah, well ! perhaps our Conference was nursed 
Within our honored Abna Mater first ; 
Give her the double honors she hath earned 
Since first the fires upon her alter burned. 
These walls of stone,* within whose shadows we 
Convene to-day, were resting silently 
Within the deep primeval ledge. 
Nor yet had known the touch of chisel's edge ; 
Our ark had but a transient resting-place, 
And on yon Chapel fell the precious grace, 
As once on Obed Edoms' house it fell. 
And friend and stranger felt the charmed spell." 

Rev. Nathaniel Porter was the first Principal of the 
institution. How he labored to establish the Seminary 
with a respectable reputation and give it a high standing ; 
how he toiled to elevate the M. E. Church in the vicinity ; 
how he bore the heaviest burdens and toiled unceasingly 
until his energies were exhausted, is vividly remembered by 
many whose hearts ^vere deeply in the cherished work. 
Dr. Porter went from Cazenovia to New Jersey, in 1830, 
to recruit his broken health. The anticipations of his 
friends failed, for he died in Newark, in that State, August 
II, 1 83 1, in the 31st year of his age. He was talented 
and successful, and in his death there passed beyond the 
constellation of the M. E. Conference a bright star of light, 
distinguished for its brilliancy, purity and warmth, growing 
all the more bright as it passed away. 

Rev. Augustus W. Smith succeeded Dr. Porter as Prin- 
cipal. The subsequent Principals we name in their order 
as follows : — W. C. Larrabee, George Peck, G. G. Hapgood, 
Henry Bannister, (continued 15 years,) E. G. Andrews,! 

* The Methodist Church. 

•j- Served twelve years, — he is now one of the Bishops of the M. E. Church. 



CAZENOVIA. 235 

A. S. Graves, and W. S. Smyth, who is the present incum- 
bent. In 1840, the number of pupils was 327, in 1871, 555. 
The Seminary has ever maintained a high standing, num- 
bering among its pupils many who have from time to time 
gone forth to fill the most honored stations in society. 
Our Leuislative Chambers, our Judicial Halls, have noble 
men who trace their fitting for usefulness back to the 
kindly walls of Cazenovia Seminary. Our institutions of 
learning, our missions in India, China and other quarters of 
the globe, are filled with earnest laborers, talented men and 
women, who hold, with love and reverence, memories of the 
careful guidance and wise training of this, their Alma 
Mater. 

In 1870, the Seminary buildings were improved, and a 
large addition was put on. In every respect the old build- 
ings were made convenient by modern appliances, and 
beautified by modern art. Its facilities for accommodating 
its increasing patronage have been greatly enhanced. The 
trustees have secured a new charter of incorporation, and 
a corporate seal. 

PROMINENT MEN. 

Theophilus Cazenove "was the first General Agent of the 
Holland Company. When the Compaify made their first pur- 
chase of lands in the interior of this State and Pennsylvania, soon 
after 1790, he had arrived in this country and acted as their 
agent. In all the negotiations and preliminary proceedings 
connected with the large purchase of Robert Morris, of this 
region, the interests of the Company were principally confided 
to him. His name is intimately blended with the whole history 
of the title. When the purchase was perfected he was made 
General Agent, and under his auspices the surveys were com- 
menced. The author can only judge of him from such manu- 
script records as came from his hands. These exhibit good 
business qualifications and great integrity of purpose. In all 
the embarrassments that attended the perfecting of the title, he 
seems to have been actuated by honorable and praiseworthy 
motives, and to have assisted, with a good deal of ability, the 
legal managers of the Company's interests."* 

He returned to Europe in 1799, ending then his connec- 

* TuVner's History of the Holland Purchase. 



236 MADISON COUNTY. 

tion with the Company. He resided for a considerable 
time in London, after which he went to Paris, and we believe 
it was in M. De Talleyrand's home that he died. 

JOHN LINCKLAEN. 

Very much of Mr. Lincklaen's active part in the early 
history of this county, will have been gathered from the 
history of the town of Cazenovia, and it may lend to his 
name sufficient interest to justify a brief personal mention 
of his life ; one in which a bold and adventurous spirit was 
controlled by a firm character, and one which, commenc- 
ing in the gay life of European capitols, ended peacefully 
in a home of his own making in the New World. 

Jan von Lincklaen was born in Amsterdam, Holland, 
December 24, 1768. His boyhood was principally passed 
in Switzerland, where he was educated by a private tutor. 
At the age of fourteen he entered the Dutch Navy, remain- 
ing in the service for some years, and attaining promotion 
to the rank of Lieutenant under Admiral De Winter. While 
in this service be visited the most important places in 
Europe and Asia, and passed some considerable time at 
Smyrna and Ceylon. 

In the year 1790, he came to this country under the 
patronage of Mr. Stadnitski of Amsterdam, the principal 
director of the Holland Land Company's affairs in 
America. 

In the year 1792, he penetrated the wilderness of 
Central New York, and surveyed the land subsequently 
purchased by the Holland Land Company, and early in the 
following year {1793), intrusted with the agency of the 
tract, he commenced the actual settlement of Cazenovia, 
naming it after his friend Mr. Cazenove, an Italian. 
Young, active, and persevering, he turned his attention to 
the needs of his new settlement, and at once commenced 
laying out roads, building bridges, erecting mills and ware- 
houses, and all that a new home demanded, and he soon 
found himself surrounded by a prosperous community, in 




INC KI^AK^J^. 

or (■a-/(M\<>vi;i. 



CAZENOVIA. 237 

the place where his refined taste had induced him to make 
his new home. 

In this active way he labored for nearly thirty years, and 
won for himself a reputation for integrity and accuracy, 
and proved himself in all ways a friend to the poor, and a 
neighbor devoted to the welfare of his townsmen. 

John Lincklaen's name was also connected with the 
Holland Purchase in the Genesee country. According to 
the then existing laws of this State, those of the Holland 
Company then in Holland, could not purchase and hold real 
estate, being aliens. After several changes in the trustees, 
and transfers of portions of the land, sanctioned by the 
Legislature, the whole tract of the celebrated "Morris 
Reserve," containing about three and a quarter million acres, 
was deeded to the individuals, in their own names, who 
represented the three separate branches of the Holland 
Company. These were : — Herman Leroy, John Linck- 
laen and Gerrit Boon. In conveyances of these vast 
estates made subsequently, we find the names of Herman 
Leroy and Hannah his wife, John Lincklaen and Helen 
his wife, Gerrit Boon, Paul Busti, William Bayard, James 
McEvers, the Willinks, and others. 

His acquaintance embraced many learned and distin- 
guished men, (among them Talleyrand, at the time seeking 
in America a refuge from European disturbances ;) and 
his reading, as evinced by his library, was varied and 
extensive, in English, Dutch and French. He rendered 
the English language with purity and ease, for which we 
have the excellent authority of President Nott, of Union 
College, who said that he knew of no foreigner who used 
our language so correctly as Mr. Lincklaen. His tastes 
were scholarly and literary, which gave to his graceful per- 
son, always elegant in dress and manner, an air of refine- 
ment, and which marked him as one of nature's superior 
types of men. His high sense of honor, his deep love of 
integrity, together with his fineness of organization, 



238 MADISON COUNTY. 

placed him beyond the ordinary mind ; hence there seemed 
between himself and the mass a distance, perhaps affecting 
his general popularity, which was not the offspring of pride, 
but was, rather, owing to an awkwardness in adapting him- 
self to the mass. Between himself and Peter Smith there 
existed intimate business and friendly relations, their friend- 
liness being in a great measure cemented by harmonious 
views in politics, both being Federalists. Frequent visits 
were interchanged in which Gerrit Smith, then a youth, 
often participated. In those days Gerrit Smith learned to 
admire and love Mr. Lincklaen, whose fine and noble 
qualities, in all the years that have passed, he has cherished 
and revered ; and now he says : — "in my eye Mr. Linck- 
laen was a beautiful man, a lovely character." 

Mr. Vanderkemp* and Col. Mappa, two of his most inti- 
mate friends, were Unitarians, and for a time he was in- 
fluenced by this doctrine. His pastor, Rev. Mr. Leonard, 
leaned toward these views, but during the ministry of Rev. 
Mr. Brown, who succeeded Rev. Leonard about 1814, in a 
revival of great power, Mr. Lincklaen devoted himself to a 
candid consideration of religious views, which led to his 
adopting the Trinitarian belief and devoting himself to a 
Christian life, and all his after life attested to the earnest- 
ness and fullness of his convictions. 

In forwarding the erection of the " Old Church on the 
Green," he gave his time and means unsparingly, and the 
noble frame and graceful spire raised at that time, are now 
the just pride of a large congregation, who have made of the 
old landmark one of the most beautiful churches in our 
county. 

His first residence was on the ground now covered by 
the house of Sidney T. Fairchild, Esq. This building was 
destroyed by fire in 1806, and he then selected his place at 
the foot of the Lake, on a site that commands a beautiful 

*Mr. Vanderkemp was employed by the State to translate the old Dutch records 
into English. 



CAZENOVIA. 239 

view of the entire length of Owahgena. This house, built 
of brick, is still standing, occupied by the family, and is 
evidence of his thorough care in working soundly and well. 

The original warehouse and store was on the Lake, west 
of the outlet, among the venerable trees of a white oak open- 
ing. The Land Office was for a time near his entrance 
gate, and afterwards in a building erected for the purpose 
on land at the foot of Albany street. 

The agency passed on to one, to whom he gave the posi- 
tion of an adopted son, J. D. Ledyard, whose eldest sister, 
he married in 1797. 

Mr. Ledyard eventually assumed the entire remaining 
property from the Holland Land Company, and by him the 
office was removed again (to open a full view of the Lake 
from the village), and a third building was built in 
the business part of Cazenovia, where it now (1870,) re- 
mains. 

At this time the business of the tract is comparatively 
small. A limited number of contracts are yet unpaid, but 
the "settlers" are fast paying them up and taking their 
deeds ; and of the original one hundred and thirty thousand 
acres of this Holland purchase, now only four or five hun- 
dred acres remain unsold ; and as railways are threading 
the valleys through which Mr. Lincklaen and his men made 
their "blaze marks," these will soon be purchased and 
cleared, and ere long the whole venture that brought an 
European Naval Officer to settle on fair Owahgena, will be 
only a matter of local history. 

Mr. Lincklaen's eventful and active life was changed to 
that of a suffering invalid in 1820, by paralysis, and his 
death resulted from the disease no skill or care could avert, 
on the 9th of February, 1822, while he was yet at the age 
of many hale men, fifty-four years. 



Samuel S. Foreman came with John Lincklaen as a 
merchant and remained in Cazenovia several years. Under 



240 MADISON COUNTY. 

Mr. Lincklaen's patronage, he had at one time several 
stores established in small villages in different sections of 
the county. He was an energetic, public spirited man and 
possessed much influence. He subsequently removed to 
Syracuse. The author is indebted to him for much of the 
early history of Cazenovia. 



Jonathan Foreman was an elder brother of Samuel S. 
Foreman. He was an officer in the Revolutionary war, en- 
listing as ensign and rising by regular grades to Colonel. 
He held a General's commission in the militia, was very 
energetic in forming the old Military Brigade of Madison 
County, and was always prominent at parades, having a true 
soldierly beariiig. These brothers were relatives of Hon. 
Joshua Foreman, the founder of Syracuse. Miss Helen 
Ledyard, who became the wife of John Lincklaen, was a 
niece of the Foreman brothers. 



New Woodstock Village is situated in the south part 
of the town of Cazenovia. David and Jonathan Smith, and 
Charleville Webber were the first settlers in this locality. 
These men it is said came in before Mr. Lincklaen's settling- 
party, — stopped awhile at the shanty at the lake, and af- 
terwards staked out their lots and settled near the site of 
New Woodstock. Isaac Warren, Robert Fisher and John 
Savage were also among the first settlers of this part of the 
town. Ralph Knight, (who was living in 1869, and the old- 
est resident of the village,) was born in New Woodstock, 
December 18th, 1796. Erastus Smith (also living in 
1869*) was another of the early native born citizens ot New 
Woodstock. Joseph Holmes, a settler of 1801, was from 
Chesterfield County, New Hampshire — his native place 
being Munson, Mass. Squire Letus Lathrop, and Edmund 
Knowlton are other residents of the town who were among 
the earliest natives of this place. 

■•■'■The date in which the author acquired this information. 



CAZENOVIA. 241 

This village being on the well traveled road, from Caze- 
novia southward through Road Township, was quite early 
a conspicuous settlement. The first Baptist Church of 
Cazenovia was organized here as its history shows, and the 
first meeting house of the town was built in this village in 
1803. There was a store, a tavern and some shops at that 
time. A Methodist class was formed here, and Rev. Mr. 
Paddock and other Methodist ministers preached at this 
place at stated periods, before 1820. A select school was 
originated, which, after a few years of successful operation, 
was incorporated by Legislature as " New Woodstock 
Academy." The date of the Act was May 2nd, 1834. It 
is now extinct. At a later date the M. E. Church was 
built. A fine school house has been erected at a recent 
date, at a cost of about ;^3,000. In this a first-class graded 
school is kept. There is an extensive Glove Manufactory 
in New Woodstock. Its proprietors are (1869) Erastus 
Abbott, Joseph L. Hatch, James L. Savage, Elijah B. War- 
lock and Thomas Warlock. The village has also two car- 
riage and wagon shops, several mechanic shops and mills, 
a hotel, four stores, besides its two churches, and about 
300 inhabitants. 

A Good Templar's Lodge has been in existence about 
five years. It has thus far proved to be an institution, suc- 
cessful in sustaining itself, and in performing its sacred 
mission. (Note d) 

CHURCHES*. 

TJie Presbyterian C7/z/n:/5 of Cazenovia Village, was formed 

in 1799, with eight members. Rev. Joshua Leonard was 

first pastor. The first place of worship was a school 

house, after the style of a chapel, situated on the west 

side of Sullivan street, north of the Green. In 1807, the 

society erected the first church edifice of the town. It was 

situated on the north side of the Parade Ground, facins; 

Hurd street. 

TJie First Baptist Church of Cazenovia, was organized in 
p 



242 MADISON COUNTY. 

New Woodstock, in 1799. Elder Bacon was temporary pas- 
tor. In 1803, the society, with the Presbyterians, built a 
meeting house. In 1820, the Cazenovia Village Baptist 
Church was formed. This society had, however, existed as a' 
separate division since 1803, and had built their church 
about 1818. This was burned in 1871, and a fine new one 
erected on its site the same year. 

The M. E. Church of Cazenovia Village. A class was 
formed in this village as early as 18 16, which existed till 
1824, when it was reorganized by Rev. Geo. Gary. Rev. 
Fitch Reed first pastor. In 1830, they built the stone 
church. This has been removed, and a fine new one is 
being erected on the spot. 

The Congregational Church of Cazenovia Village, was built 
about 1838. The society are mostly removed. The build- 
ing: is now known as Concert Hall. 

St. Peters Church, Episcopal, of Cazenovia Village, was 
organized in 1845. Edifice built in 1848. First pastor, 
Rev. Mason Gallagher. 

First Universalist Church of Cazenovia, was organized in 
1853. The church edifice was erected in 1853-4. It is 
situated at the foot of Williams street. 

St. James Church, Catholic, located near the old Parade 
Ground, was built in 1848. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Two newspapers in Madison County claim the precedence as 
being the first established ; the Aladison Ff-eeholder, published at 
Peterboro, and the Pilot at Cazenovia — both originating in the 
year 1808. 

The Pilot was started in August, 1808, by Oran E. Baker, and 
continued till August, 1823. 

The Republican Monitor was instituted in Cazenovia, in Sep- 
tember, 1823, by L. L. Rice. It was published by John F. 
Fairchild from April, 1825, to January, 1832 ; by J. F. Fairchild 
& Son, till July, 1840, and by J. F. Fairchild till March 4th, 
1841, when it was discontinued. 

The Studenfs Miscellany, semi-monthly, was published at Caz- 
enovia in 1831, by A. Owen and L. Kidder. 

The Union Herald wizs commenced in May, 1835, by L. My- 



CAZENOVIA, 243 

rick and E. W. Clark. In 1836, Mr. Clark withdrew, and in 
1840 the paper was discontinued. 

The Cazenovia Democrat was started in September, 1836, by 
J. W. Chubbuck & Co., edited by J. Dwinnell. In February, 
1837, it was discontinued. 

The Madison County Eagle was commenced in this village in 
February, 1840, by Cyrus O. Pool. In 1841, it was published 
by Thomas S. Myrick and W. H. Phillips. In June, 1842, My- 
rick withdrew, and in May, 1845, it was changed to 

The Afadison County W/iig. In August, 1848, Phillips was 
succeeded by H. A. Cooledge, by whom the paper was changed 
to 

The Madison Cowity Neti)s in October, 1853. In May, 1854, 
it was again changed to 

T\\Q. Madison County Whig, and in January, 1857, was discon- 
tinued. 

The Abolitionist Via.?, started in Cazenovia, in 1841, by Luther 
Myrick, and continued two years. 

The Madison and Onondaga Abolitionist was also published 
here, in 1843, by I.uther Myrick and J. C. Jackson. 

The Madison Republic was commenced in this village in Jan- 
uary, 1850, by W. H. Phillips, and continued about three 
months. 

The Cazenovia Gazette was published by Baker & Debnam, 
from October, 185 1, to May, 1852. 

The Progressive Christian was established in April, 1853, by 
A. Pryne, and was continued two years. 

The Cazenovia Republican was started May ist, 1854, by Sen- 
eca Lake. It was subsequently published by Crandall Bros. ; 
afterwards by the Forte Bros., and now (1872) by E. B. Cran- 
dall, Irving C. Forte, editor. 

The Madison Observer was first issued in Cazenovia, in Janu- 
ary, 1821, by Rice & Hall. It was removed to Morrisville in 
1822. 



244 MADISON COUNTY, 



CHAPTER V. 



DE RUYTER. 

Boundaries. — Lincklaen's Purchase. — Original Division ofTowns 
and their Names. — Naming of DeRuyter. — Party of Pioneers. 
— Opening of Roads. — Historical Incident. — Joseph Mes- 
senger. — Squire Samuel Thompson. — Names of Pioneers. — 
First Death. — First Birth. — First School. — DeRuyter Village 
in 1805. — First Improvements at Sheds Corners and early 
Settlers in that Vicinity. — Quaker Basin. — DeRuyter Village 
in 1809. — Cold Season of 1816. — Affecting Incident. — Incon- 
veniences and Privations. — Customary Amusements. — Inci- 
dents. — Schools and their Teachers. — Distinguished Sons of 
DeRuyter. — The Village • in 1832. — Incorporation. — Lively 
Progress. — S. D. B. Institute. — Sketches of DeRuyter Citi- 
zens. — Churches. — Newspapers. 

DeRuyter is the southwest corner town of Madsson 
County. It is bounded north by Cazenovia, east by George- 
town, south by Chenango County, and west by Onondaga 
and Cortland Counties. The principal stream of this town 
is the Tioughneoga River, which, however, has numerous 
branches. Along this river a beautiful valley of richly fer- 
tile soil spreads out, and on either side rise the summits of 
hills, some of which are 400 to 500 feet in hight. Pretty 
valleys follow the course of the Tioughneoga tributaries. 
A branch of the Otselic has its source in the southeast part 
of this town, along the course of which the Midland railroad 
finds its way among the hills into the town of Otselic. 

DeRuyter, previous to 1795, was included in the ancient 
town of Whitestown and was a part of the famous " Linck- 



DE RUYTER. 245 

laen Purchase." " Tromp Township" was the original 
name given by Mr. Lincklaen to this town, which it re- 
tained while it belonged to that portion of the purchase ly- 
ing in Chenango County. A portion of " Road Township " 
is also included in DeRuyter. The ancient line between 
Tromp and Road Townships passed just south of Sheds 
Corners, and crossed the lands which are the present farms 
of widow W. I. Alvord, Samuel Smith, Orville Fowler and 
Asaph Smith. By reference to maps, it will be seen that 
the line of lots here change their numbers, showing that 
the original survey, when those towns were recognized, still 
holds good. The familiar name of "Tromptown" was not 
readily dropped when this, with No. i and No. 6 of the Clin- 
ton purchase, became in 1795, a part of Cazenovia ; but 
when an act was passed March 15th, 1798, authorizing the 
formation of the new town of DeRuyter, its inhabitants 
soon grew to be familiar with the illustrious title. At its 
formation under this act, it embraced its present limits, with 
Georgetown, in Madison County, and Lincklaen, Otselic, 
German and Pitcher in Chenango County. Its population 
in 1800 was 310. The name of DeRuyter was given by 
Mr. Lincklaen in honor of his countryman, Admiral DeRuy- 
ter, of the Dutch Navy, an illustrious personage in the his- 
tory of Holland, 

At the date of March 21, 1806, when the County of 
Madison was formed, that part of DeRuyter lying within 
the County of Chenango was taken off, and in 1815, when 
Georgetown was organized, two miles of the then town of 
Cazenovia was added. 

In 1793, Col. John Lincklaen employed the services of 
Nathaniel Locke, by whom this tract was surveyed, when 
it was immediately opened for settlement. In this same 
year a small party of emigrants wended their way southward 
from Cazenovia into the pathless, unbroken wilderness of 
DeRuyter, or Tromptown, as then called. Their progress 
was impeded by heavy underbrush which they were com- 



246 MADISON COUNTY. 

pelled to cut from their pathway, and which, aided by the 
trees they marked, left them a passably well defined route 
for communication with the outer world. They halted near 
the confluence of the three streams, whose narrow valleys, 
united, form the entrance to the expanding and beautiful 
valley of the river which yet bears its Indian title, " Tiough- 
neoga," (said to be " Te-ah-hah-hogue " in the aboriginal 
dialect) meaning " the meeting of roads and waters at the 
same place." * 

On the rolling land, up from the river full two miles from 
DeRuyter village, Elijah and Elias Benjamin, from Dutchess 
County, N. Y., and Eli Colgrove, from Rhode Island, se- 
lected their location on lots contiguous to each other ; — 
the two Benjamin families coming together, and the latter 
at or about the same time. Elijah Benjamin's family con- 
sisted of three sons, — Elias P., David and Elijah E. Benja- 
min. The last named son is the only one of those pioneers 
now living. He resides in DeRuyter village, is now (1871) 
eighty-two years of age, and in possession of mental and 
physical health unusual for a person of his years. These 
settlers obtained their farms of Mr. Lincklaen at the almost 
nominal price of fifty cents per acre, — farms which are now- 
worth $100 per acre. 

At an early date Colonel Lincklaen opened two roads 
through his purchase ; they were called the east and west 
roads. The west road was first laid out, and extended the 
whole length of his tract, — or from Cazenovia to German. 
The engineer employed in cutting this road had a corps of 
four axmen and one teamster, among whom were two of 
the hardy Jerseymen who came on to Cazenovia with Mr. 
Lincklaen, — John Wilson and James Smith. The 
former located in the town of Lincklaen ; the latter was 
long afterwards a resident of DeRuyter. These road-cut- 
ters found the wilderness to be continuous and extremely 
dense, from DeRuyter settlement southward, far into Ger- 

* See Spafford's Gazetteer, 1812. 



DE RUYTER. 24/ 

man. There were five families then Hving in the latter 
town in the utmost seclusion, their only communication 
with the civilized world being by a " blazed " route to 
Oxford. Two of these families were named Doran, and the 
three others Vanauker. They were ignorant of the ap- 
proach of any settlement from the northward, and con- 
sequently on the evening that the road party were nearing 
them, and the sound of axes and echo of voices could be 
heard, no small amount of speculation and excitement was 
produced thereby. Some of the men were gone to mill to 
Oxford, but returned that night and found their families had 
gathered together and made their calculations. If the 
coming band were Indians they were to be prepared to 
accept them as they came ; if friendly, they should meet 
a friendly reception ; if hostile, then otherwise ; — but if 
the new comers proved what the evidences led them to 
believe — a band of emigrants — great would be their joy ! 
And if this was indeed so, they then queried, where could 
they come from ? — so far as they knew all settlements and 
thoroughfares in the direction whence these were approach- 
ing, were many leagues to the northward ; and why should 
emigrants cross the great Indian country intervening, when 
the traveled routes from the east were far preferable ? 
Such and similar queries and speculations were indulged in 
till a late hour, and sleep scarce visited this log hamlet that 
night. Early the following morning the engineer, while 
his men were preparing breakfast, walked out to reconnoitre^ 
and in a short time reached the little settlement. There 
were mutual and hearty greetings, even though between 
strangers, tor all were glad to look upon new faces ; there were 
rapid and eager questionings from the settlers, and ready 
and satisfactory answers giveru The worthy and hospit- 
able Vanauker, earnestly pressed the stranger to take break- 
fast Vv^ith them, but the invitation was respectfully declined, 
on account of the anxiety his men at camp would be sure 
to feel if his absence was prolonged ; he left, however. 



248 • MADISON COUNTY. 

promising that himself and men would gladly avail them- 
selves of the hospitalities of their host's house that night, 
and as an evidence of the welcome they would meet with, 
the men of the settlement took their axes, went out to the 
woodsmen, and helped them through. That night was 
the most eventful and happy one that had yet closed upon 
the settlement ; it brought to their doors a road which was 
to give them communication with neighbors. From that 
time forward they became closely connected in intercourse 
with the settlement at De Ruyter. 

Joseph Messenger and Samuel Thompson settled in this 
town in 1795. The former located on lot No. 20, and built 
the first tavern in the town. It was a large, double log 
house, and stood but a few rods from the present dwelling 
of George Lewis, who now occupies the farm. The Messen- 
ger Tavern was for many years the famous stopping place 
for the numerous emigrants coming in to settle the Linck- 
laen purchase, and many a way-worn traveler had cause to 
remember with gratitude the kindness of the proprietor. Mr, 
Messenger was employed by Mr. Lincklaen to cut through 
the east road, which runs on the ridge east of DeRuyter to 
the town of Lincklaen, and which the older inhabitants 
remember to have long borne the name of the " Joe" road. 
Upon the farm that he took up, cleared and cultivated, 
Joseph Messenger died and was buried. Upon the head- 
board, above his remains, the following epitaph was written, 
which, although not transferred to the marble his family 
reared in affectionate memory, was nevertheless true : — 

" Here lies the remains of old Uncle Joe, 
A Mejsenger here a long time ago; 
Pioneer of the woods and worker of the way. 
He did a great deal of work for a little pay." 

Mrs. Messenger, or "Aunt Mima," as she was called, was 
a most excellent christian woman and beloved by every- 
body. Her character combined the requisites which highly 
qualified her for all the duties and needs of the new 
country. Courageous and self-reliant, she feared not to 



DE RUYTER. 249 

mount her horse, (astride if the case -was urgent,) at any 
time of night, and ride ever so far in the woods, to attend 
the wants of the sick. As a safe and skillful practitioner 
of midwifery, her celebrity extended over a wide circuit. 

Squire Samuel Thompson settled on Lot No. 4, where 
members of his family still reside. He was a marked char- 
acter of the period — a famous hunter, a wonderful marks- 
man, and from various other characteristics, similar to one 
of Cooper's heroes, he was called the " Leather-Stocking " of 
this section. The following extract from the DeRuyter 
" New Era," tells one of the many stories related of this rare 
character : — 

'' In his prime he was a bundle of nerves and bone, nothing 
else. On a time, he went to the village of Cazenovia, or, as it 
was termed in those days, "up to the Lake." His business, 
which was with the late Col. Lincklaen, being over, Mr. T. 
stepped into the street, and passing along, unconscious of danger, 
met a sort of crazy, drunken chap, who, without prelude or cere- 
mony, struck him a most unexpected blow over the head. Sud- 
den as a flash, the assailed returned the ' how d'ye do ' with a 
tremendous whack over the other's pate, who, seeing the stars 
fall, cried out lustily, ' Oh, you shouldn't strike me ! I'm a crazy 
man !' Instantly the old squire, whose motions were as quick as 
lightning, hauled off again, giving him another crack, with the 
retort, ' D — n you ! I'm as crazy as you be !' leaving bedlamite 
sprawling on the walk, to come to his senses as best he might." 

Squire Thompson died a few years since, at the advanced 
age of ninety. 

Joseph Rich came in from Connecticut about 1795, and 
took up Lot No. 36, which is traversed by the Tioughneo- 
ga, where, in 1807, he built the first saw mill, and, in 1809, 
the first grist mill in this town. These mills were in oper- 
ation until the construction of the DeRuyter Reservoir, 
which cut off the supply of a large part of the stream. The 
same property is now owned by DeGrand Benjamin, a 
grandson of Joseph Rich. 

The isolated band of DeRuyter pioneers, located in as 
-close proximity to each other as the size of their farms 
would permit ; they opened clearings which year by year 



250 MADISON COUNTY. 

widened and lengthened. It was a most salubrious situa- 
tion, and the success which attends vigorous health and 
favorable natural surroundings, was theirs. The fame of 
their local advantages was not long in reaching their former 
homes in the east, and large numbers were induced to emi- 
grate. 

Eleazer Gage, from Dutchess County, with his sons, Jus- 
tus, Eli, Samuel, Ira and Jeremiah, came before 1800, and 
also Darius Benjamin, all of whom located south of, and ad- 
joining this settlement, some of them opening clearings 
where DeRuyter village now stands. Darius Benjamin 
cleared the land and set out a small orchard on his place, 
very near the new cemetery. 

Jeremiah Gage built, at an early day, the tavern between 
the Messenger House and the village — two miles north of 
the latter — now owned by Newell Reeve, and re-modeled 
into a mansion-like farm house. The Gages became thrifty, 
well-to-do farmers, and as a family, were public spirited, 
and possessed influence. Eli Gage was quite popular as a 
political man. He was Supervisor for several years, and 
many years a Justice of the Peace. Only one of this once 
numerous family lives in town — Edwin Gage, grandson of 
Justus. Ira Gage Barnes, adopted son of Capt. Jeremiah 
Gage, became quite prominent as a teacher, and also held the 
office of Supervisor and of School Inspector. On the death 
of Jeremiah Gage, he succeeded to his estate. He subse- 
quently moved into DeRuyter, and established a banker's 
and broker's office. He was a successful business man, 
prominent and influential. He now resides in Syracuse. 

Daniel Page, from Dutchess County, came before 1800, 
and at an early date — perhaps 1806 — opened the first pub- 
lic house in DeRuyter village. It was a frame building, 
and on the erection of the Annas House on the same site, 
it was moved off the ground ; it now stands adjacent to the 
hotel, and is used as a drug store. 

William and Thompson Burdick, brothers, came from 



DE RUYTER. 25 I 

Hopkinton, Rhode Island, in the year 1795. Thompson 
Burdick's deed of his farm bears date, May ist, 1795. These 
brothers located their farms in the vicinity of the chapel, 
north of DeRuyter. Thompson's house stood next the 
chapel, (which was afterwards built,) and the farm of Wil- 
liam, Lot No. 128, adjoined his. The family record of 
Thompson Burdick discloses the fact that David Burdick, 
his son, was born May 25, 1796, which makes this the first 
birth in the town of DeRuyter. The Burdicks reared large 
families, who were generally thrifty and enterprising. Be- 
ginning poor, they attained a competence ; they were men 
of good judgment, safe, trustworthy, substantial, and locally 
public spirited. Two sons of Thompson — Albert G. and 
Joseph — settled in this town. The surviving sons of Wil- 
liam — Ira C, Kenyon and Lorenzo, reside in this town, and 
are farmers. 

Prominent among the early settlers in the north part of 
the town, were three brothers — Jonathan, Luke, and 
Pardon Coon — who took up, cleared and improved fine 
farms, and reared large families, sons and daughters, most 
of whom lived to the estate of manhood and womanhood, 
contributing numbers and strength, virtue and intelligence 
to the native population of the town. 

David Paddock, Gideon Foster, Samuel Bowen, James 
Nye and David Mayne, sen., also came early. 

Samuel Bowen kept the first store opened in the town, 
on the side hill, just north of the corporation, on the turn- 
pike (or plank road). 

James Nye located on Lot 54, where he cleared a beau- 
tiful farm, and resided many years. 

David Mayne located at the head of the reservoir ; he 
reared a large family, several being daughters, all of them 
dying in youth. This tamily were at one time prominent. 
David Mayne, jr., was a surveyor and teacher, a Justice of 
the Peace for many years, and a member of Assembly. He 
was a man of great memory, of good judgment, and was 



252 MADISON COUNTY. 

highly respected. One of his sons resides on the home- 
stead, the other is a teacher in Rochester. 

Aaron, Belden, Isaac and Nathan Paddock, young men, 
came with their mother from Dutchess County, and located 
north of DeRuyter. All were afterwards married and re- 
mained in this vicinity. At one time they also were a prom- 
inent family. 

Holbrook and Hitchcock came in 1802, and took up their 
farms adjoining DeRuyter, in the town of Cuyler. Being 
so near the village, where they transacted business, they 
were reckoned as belonging to DeRuyter. 

The first death in town was that of Gideon Foster, which 
occurred in 1796. It was early in the spring, and the 
scarcity of food for cattle compelled all the settlers to resort 
to browsing. Mr. Foster, in his labor of this kind, over- 
taxed his strength, and brought on an aggravated form of 
hernia, to which he was subject, which terminated in his 
death in forty-eight hours. Any decimation of their small 
numbers caused real sorrow in this community, and the 
suddenness of this event, removing one by death, was there- 
fore felt as a calamity. A burial ground was then laid out, 
on the farm of Eljah Benjamin, and here, for the first time, 
the earth closed over the body of a white settler. This spot 
was for many years the only burial ground of this vicinity ; 
the remains of many of DeRuyter's pioneers are resting 
here. 

Dr. Hubbard Smith was the pioneer physician and was 
the only one for many years. His practice was an extensive 
one, and he was universally esteemed. Dr. Smith early 
built the house which is now the boarding house of the De- 
Ruyter Institute. He was the first Postmaster of DeRuy- 
ter. 

The first school house in town was a log structure built 
on lot No. 20, near the Messenger tavern. Eli Gage was 
the first teacher, in the winter of 1 799. 

Frederick, the fourth son of Elijah Benjamin, was the 



DE RUYTER. 253 

second white native (as the records show) of DeRuyter, 
born in 1798. He received his fine and healthy physical, 
moral and mental education in this town ; to the influences 
of his home was he indebted for the true manhood he bore 
with him to the home of his adoption in Belvidere, 111. He 
died in the autumn of 1868, aged seventy-four years. 

We have the names of several v/ho came previous to 
1805: Abram Sutton, from Westchester County, N. Y., 
John Pierce and wife, from New York ; Dr. Ephraim Otis, 
from Saratoga, N. Y. ; Job Webb, from Hudson, N. Y., and 
Benjamin Stratton. 

Tiddeman Hull and his son George, came from Hudson, 
Columbia County, N. Y., in 1805. They located in the 
town of Cuyler, Cortland County, abput two miles from 
DeRuyter village ; living so near, they were regarded as a 
part of the same brotherhood of pioneers. Their " meet- 
ing" (Friends,) was at DeRuyter, and ^their business was 
transacted there. These men cleared a large farm. At 
this period DeRuyter village had only about six log houses. 
A little building containing a few goods, situated where the 
meat market now stands, was called a store and was kept by 
one Gray. There was more business transacted at other 
settlements in the vicinity than here. The mills of Paddock 
& Benjamin exhibited considerable enterprise; the Hulls, 
however, at a period somewhat later, but previous to 181 5, 
built a grist mill and saw mill, and kept a store of goods at 
their place in Cuyler, and thereby drew a considerable trade 
from the DeRuyter settlement. George Hull also manu- 
factured cast iron plows, having obtained the right from the 
patentee by paying two dollars on every plow he made 
The first cast iron plow made in Cortland County was. 
turned out at George Hull's establishment, and he sold the 
first one that was bought in Madison County. George 
Hull is yet living in DeRuyter village, (June 22, 1871,) aged 
eighty-five years. 

The Harts, two brothers, came from Connecticut and 



254 MADISON COUNTY. 

located near the village, but over the line in Cortland 
County. Abram Hart soon settled in DeRuyter village. 

Richard Worth came about the same period, (1805,) and 
Joseph Mitchell came from Dutchess County in 1807. The 
latter had a wife and family of several children. 

Stephen Bogardus was another from Columbia County. 
It is related that he moved from there in a wagon, bringing 
with him his household goods, a barrel of old irons, (being 
a blacksmith,) among which he packed $2,000 of specie, for 
safety along a route where sometimes highway robbers 
lurked, knowing that emigrants often possessed nice little 
sums of money which they had carefully husbanded for 
years, to help them on in the new country. 

Matthew Wells came into this town* from Petersburg, 
Rensselaer County, N. Y., in the year 1800. He located 
permanently on lots No. 3 and 4, Tromp Township (125 
acres,) and lots No, 129 and 130, Road Township, (89 
acres,) making one of the most beautiful and productive 
farms of the county, containing 214 acres. His family con- 
sisted of one son, Matthew, jr., who was ten years old when 
the family moved, and five daughters. They all lived to be 
married, and all died in consecutive order from the youngest 
to the oldest. Of the family of Matthew Wells, jr., there 
were twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, only 
four of whom are now living. J. B. Wells of DeRuyter, is 
one of the sons. 

Eleazer H. Sears was one of the settlers about this time. 
His family was quite prominent for many years ; Stephen 
G., George S. and Francis Sears, his sons, all now deceased, 
were influential men. 

Jonathan Bentley, a native of Richmond, Rhode Island, 
was married in Easton, N. Y., his wife being a native of 
Westerly, Rhode Island. They removed in 1808 to De- 
Ruyter. Hampton S. and the late Gen. Z. T. Bentley, 
their sons, were children at this time. Mr. Bentley improved 
a handsome farm, and reared and educated an influential 



DE RUYTER. 255 

family. The son, H. S. Bentley, died a few years since in 
Michigan. Gen. Z. T. Bentley, died in Oneida in 1870.* 

Eli Spear became a settler here previous to 1809. 

Benjamin Merchant was also an early settler, and took 
up a large farm at the head of the reservoir. His eldest 
son, Bradley, now resides on the farm. M. R. Merchant, 
another son, is a merchant of DeRuyter village. Hon. 
Joseph Warren Merchant is still another of this family. 

While the vicinity of DeRuyter village was being fast 
populated, other sections of the town were receiving their 
share of emigrants. Jonathan Shed came in from Brim- 
field, Mass., in the year 1800, and settled on lot No. 118. 
From him and his locality, comes the name of " Sheds Cor- 
ners." The original frame house built by Mr. Shed was 
erected previous to 1812, and stood at the north end of 
Alverson B. White's dairy barn, in 1870. 

Levi Wood also came from Brimfield, Mass., in the year 
1803, and took up lot No. 135. His first purchase, 
which was from Mr. Lincklaen, consisted of 1 1 1 acres, for 
which he paid $5 an acre. The price of land had doubled 
within the past two years, and the increase continued for a 
few subsequent years. Mr. Wood sold a portion of his land 
the next year at $J per acre. Levi Wood was born in 
the town of Munson, Hampton County, Mass., in 1778, 
and is consequently now (1869,) ninety-one years old. He 
still resides on the noble farm he redeemed from the wilder- 
ness. The " Oneida Dispatch," in the autumn of '69, men- 
tioned the fact that " Levi Wood, who voted for John 
Adams, and at every Presidential election since, was pres- 
ent at election (in DeRuyter,) and cast his vote for Grant 
and Colfax." The aged veteran is still in possession of ex- 
cellent physical and mental health. 

When Mr. Wood returned east for his family in 1804, he 
took a route leading through Georgetown, and found not 
one family from DeRuyter to Lebanon. 

* See " sketches " at close of chapter. 



256 MADISON COUNTY. 

The first frame house built at Sheds Corners was erect- 
ed by Pliny Sabins about 1808. D. M. & A. D. Gardner 
reside (in 1870,) where Mr. Sabins built. 

The first frame barn was built by Caleb Wood, and 
stood near the saw mill, on land belonging to Mrs. W. I. 
Alvord. As there were no saw mills in the town at that 
date, (1806,) the timbers, rafters, braces, &c., were hewn. 
The boards, all pine, were drawn from near Cazenovia vil- 
lage. The men who assisted at the "raising" came from 
distances of five miles around. 

The first school house in this district was a log one, sit- 
uated on the south side of the road, east of where Levi 
Wood resides. Ample territory was embraced in this dis- 
trict, and the large families of the pioneers made a full and 
flourishing school. 

As late as 18 12-13, school was taught at Sheds Corners 
in a log house, but during '18 13, the first frame one was put 
up, where Willard M. Smith's garden now is, on the north 
side of the Georgetown road, near the corner, Jonathan 
Shed was the first teacher. 

The first death at Sheds Corners was Daniel Alvord, 
about 1809. 

Among the early settlers in this vicinity were : Daniel 
Alvord, from Northampton, Mass. ; David Weeks, from 
Long Island ; Caleb Wiley, Benjamin Northrup, John Leet, 
from Sherburne, Mass. ; Dwight Gardner, from Brimfield, 
Mass. ; Joseph Holmes, native of Munson, Mass. 

A number of Quakers came in soon after 1800, and 
settled in a romantic spot which was named Quaker Basin. 
Among these families may be mentioned the Russels, 
Woods, Rings, Shephards, Breeds, Abram Sutton and 
others, men of considerable competence, whose sober, in- 
dustrious habits have left an indelible impress upon the 
character of the town. Abram Sutton came early and set- 
tled a half mile north of DeRuyter village; he reared a 
large family and a promment one. The only surviving son, ■ 
Allen, resides in this village. 



DE RUYTER. 257 

In 1816, the "Friends" meetinghouse at" Quaker Basin " 
was built, and is still standing, a specimen of the archi- 
tecture common among the Friends all over the country at 
that day. It was built of excellent material, which its 
shingled sides have protected from decay, in spite of the 
wind and weather of more than a half century. Its builder 
was Abram Sutton, who performed the job for the sum of 
$999, — one dollar less than the figures of any other bidder. 

There is a locality east of DeRuyter village, on the line 
of the Midland Branch, called Crumb Hill. 

Sylvester Crumb and Grace, his wife, came from Rhode 
Island about 1803, Eight sons came with them, Sylvester, 
jr., William, Joel, Culver, Hosea, Sands, John and Wait. 
Sylvester, jr., who had preceded them to the town of Brook- 
field, two years before, now joined his father on his removal 
to DeRuyter. The father and most of the sons, when they 
reached manhood, settled upon the hill which has since 
borne their name. The land they t'ok up was a dense 
wilderness, and as they were poor, and but little could be 
raised the first year, they experienced great privations for a 
time. 

Col. Elmer D. Jencks came into this town from Smyrna, 
in 1809. He was a native of Lenox, Mass., and emigrated 
to Smyrna when that town was a dense forest. He located 
a mile north of DeRuyter village, where he carried on a dis- 
tillery on the Messenger farm. He continued this business 
till 1 8 14, when he removed to the village, and entered the 
mercantile business in a store located a little west of the 
corners. The same building is now (1871,) owned by Lewis 
Sears, and is situated west of the M. E. Church. In 1817, 
Col. Jencks built a store on the northeast corner, now oc- 
cupied by Daniel Scott ; from this time on he continued in 
the same business about forty years. 

In 1809, DeRuyter village could boast of a tavern, kept 
by Daniel Page, and a store, kept by Eli Spear, the latter 
situated on the southwest corner where he afterwards kept 
Q 



25^ MADISON COUNTY. 

Store and tavern together. Page's tavern and Spear's store 
were frame buildings, and there was a small collection of 
houses, moslly log. A saw mill, then owned by Lawrence 
Barker, stood on the location of the present one owned by 
J. H. Crumb ; also, Eli Spear had a potash located perhaps 
ten rods from the southeast corner. Daniel Watson built 
about this time the first frame house of the village. 

In 1812, DeRuyter was a post-village. The census of 
two years before (1810,) gave the town — still including the 
present territory of Georgetown, be it remembered — a pop- 
ulation of 1,503, with 253 heads of families. There were 
then, also, three grain and eight saw mills. 

During, or a little subsequent to the last named date, the 
fourth Great Western Turnpike, — from Cooperstown to 
Homer, — was being built, which was completed about 181 5, 
This gave a fresh iijflux of inhabitants to this section, 
though the growth of DeRuyter village was gradual. 

The first school house of tJie village was built about 
1 8 12, and was for many years the only one. 

In 1 8 16, came the "cold season." There was a frost in 
every month. The crops were cut off, and the meagre 
harvest of grain was nowhere near sufficient for the needs 
of the people. The whole of the newly settled interior of 
New York was also suffering from the same cause. The 
inhabitants saw famine approaching.* What little grain 
there was that could be purchased at all, was held at 
remarkable prices, and this scant supply soon failed. Jon- 
athan Bentley at one time paid two dollars for a bushel of 
corn, which, when ground, proved so poor that it was unfit 
for use ; throwing it to his swine, tney too refused the vile 
food. Every resource for sustenance was carefully hus- 
banded; even forest berries and roots were preserved. 
The spring of 1817 developed the worst phases of want, 

*The alarm and depression so wrought upon the feelings of the community, that 
a religious revival ensued; and during the summer, Elder Hudson Benedict, 
Baptist minister, baptized sixty converts in this town. 



DE RUYTER. 



259 



In various sections of the country, families were brought to 
the very verge of starvation ! One relates that he was 
obliged to dig up the potatoes he had planted, to furnish 
one meal a day to his famishing family ; another states 
that his father's family lived for months without bread, save 
what was obtained in small crusts for his sick mother, and 
that milk was their chief sustenance. When the planting 
season arrived there was no seed grain in De Ruyter, so 
the inhabitants combined and sent Jeremiah Gage to 
Onondaga County to canvass for wheat and corn. He was 
absent several days, and the people, all alive to the impor- 
tance of his mission, grew discouraged, fearing there was 
none to be found. At length he was seen approaching 
along the road where the head of the reservoir now is, his 
wagon loaded, his handkerchief fastened to a pole and 
hoisted, fluttering in the breeze, a signal of joy and plenty. 
A crowd quickly gathered ; there was great rejoicing and 
tears stood in strong men's eyes. Each family repaired to 
Gage's house to receive their quota of grain, and every 
household that day was glad. Although a backward 
season, that of 1817, furnished sufficient for a fair winter 
supply. 

The first quarter of the ninteenth century was now pass- 
ing ; it had exhibited a phase in history not to be repeated 
here i 1 all after time ; and in passing it is well to record 
any anecdote illustrating the peculiar trials the inhabitants 
had to contend with, the exciting occurrences that engrossed 
their attention, and the nature of the enjoyments they 
found amid so many privations. As one of these we quote 
the following from a newspaper : — 

" In the early days the huntsmen found plenty of deer, while 
the bear and wolf roamed the forest in unconscious freedom. 
Notwithstanding the Onondaga Indians frequently encamped on 
I this eastern branch of'their favorite Tioughnioga, and made this 
town a part of their vast hunting ground, yet these bold brute 
prowlers kept the settlers ever on the alert to guard their flocks, 
who in their journeys were usually prepared for a defensive war- 
fare, should an encounter occur. 



26o MADISON COUNTY, 

" An incident, illustrating the royal freedom of the black bear, 
occurred in the year 1796. David Paddock, with his two young 
nephews, David and Elijah E. Benjamin, were crossing the hill 
west of DeRuyter village, when they observed that the small dog 
which accompanied them came running in from its circuitous 
rambles, exhibiting much fear. However, it again ran off, but 
in a short space of time returned, pursued by a huge black bean 
The three were unarmed, and their only resort was in climbing 
trees. Their fright was great, and their haste rapid, though 
they wisely selected trees too small for the bear to ascend easily, 
vet large enough to enable them to get beyond her reach. Mis- 
tress Bruin, on arriving at the spot, deliberately sat down, com- 
placently looked at her captives for some time, and probably 
calculating her chances of securing them to be small, and not 
being in a ravenous condition, finally arose and marched majes- 
tically away into the depths of the forest, to the infinite relief of 
the three prisoners. 

At one time the wolves considerably decimated the flocks at 

Sheds Corners. Levi Wood lost a number of sheep in their 

frequent raids, and at one time a bear killed a fine hog for him. 

In 1809, there was a great turn out to capture a wolf, which 

was killed upon the hill west of the Rich mill. 

Thus the settlers were compelled to sustain a perpetual war- 
fare with the untamed forces of animate and inanimate nature, 
while privations were many, and the appliances of comfort were 
few. Rude furniture, much of it of their own manufacture, 
graced their humble dwellings, while every article brought from 
their native homes was guarded with tender care. Implements 
of farming were of the most primitive fashion. The brush drag, 
the cumbrous imperfect plow, and other articles few in number, 
and unhandy in use, were all our forefathers could afford. All 
early transportation was done on horses' backs, and the settler 
knew well what a severe task it was to perform a journey to mill, 
which, previous to the building of the Rich Mills, was made over 
the hills to Onondaga settlement, or up to Cazenovia. The first 
one-horse wagon owned in this section, one informant says, be- 
longed to Squire John Gardner, about 1820. 

After the supplies of ready cash, brought by the settlers when 
they came, were exhausted, they had but scanty means for ob- 
taining money. In the earliest days nothing they had, brought 
cash but " black salts," which every farmer manufjictured from 
the ashes saved from "burnings." As soon as clearings pro- 
gressed, wheat was raised, but which, for years, brought only 
live shillings a bushel. Wages wee extremely low, and each 
man preferred to change works v ith his neighbor rather than 
pay money. 



DE RUYTER. 26 I 

And yet, with all their hardships, they prospered ; their wants 
were few, and their few pleasures were keenly enjoyed. It was 
remarked by an aged lady, that when there were but few families, 
living quite distant from each other, a visit was enjoyed to the 
utmost, and there was no fear of criticism, gossip or backbitino- 
to mar the full flow of friendliness. Modern fashionable calls 
and tea-parties, from the very hollowness of the pretensions 
made, suffer much in comparison with the noble friendship de- 
veloped amid trials. 

As population multiplied, and demands of a social nature 
increased, parties of pleasure sweetened the days of toil. An 
afternoon's visit, perhaps a " bee'" of some nature, a " quilting," 
a "wool picking," or maybe a "husking," is planned, to which 
the young ladies for many miles around are invited, — the young 
men in the evening coming in on horseback to spend the remain- 
ing festive hours, perhaps biinging a violinist with their party. 
After the work of the "bee ' is completed, and refreshments 
freely dispensed, a few hours of gay amusement terminates the 
party, when each gallant places his fair partner upon his 
horse behind him. Her long custom to this manner of riding, 
enables her to sit with ease and grace, with only the firm grasp 
of her little right hand upon the coat of her protector, under 
his right arm. The "pillory" is sometimes used, but oftener 
dispensed with, the well trained horse being perfectly gentle un- 
der his double burden. 

However, accidents did sometimes take place. One is relat- 
ed which happened to a young lady of De Ruyter, who, with 
her companion, was riding home from a party held in the vicin- 
ity of Sheds Corners. During the evening a heavy shower had 
fallen, and, as the party started, our fair equestrian, clad in 
white, even to the dainty white kid shoe, gathered up her muslin 
dress, and enveloped in a protecting cloak, took her seat upon 
the horse at the back of her escort. All went well, and a pleas- 
ant chat they were having, when ascending the steep hill south of 
Sheds Corners, by the quick movement of the horse as he 
sprang up an unusually steep ridge, her grasp was suddenly loos- 
ened, and the dignity of the damsel received' a mortifying 
humiliation as she alighted in the mud, while her kids and snowy 
muslin were rendered quite unpresentable. Her considerate 
companion reassuringly assisted her to her place again, yet her 
great embarrassment found no relief until she bade him "good 
night," and closed her father's door as he rode away. 

An instance of the intractibility of a horse on a similar occa- 
sion is also related. This party was also held in the same 
neighborhood. At its conclusion, when nearly all the company 
had mounted their horses, each beau with his respective partner 



262 MADISON COUNTY. 

seated at the back of his saddle, it was found that one horse re- 
fused to submit to the burden. Repeated efforts were made, but 
each time the young lady took her seat the disobedient animal 
unseated her. Two young men then mounted the horse, and 
after a short time in training he apparently yielded to the ar- 
rangement. Our persevering heroine again sprang to her place, 
when the mad animal, with heels flying in the air, once more un- 
ceremoniously compelled her to alight. It was evidently unwise 
to further attempt this course, and at last the young man found 
it was necessary to lead his horse the whole distance home, a 
mile and a half, that his fair partner might ride in the saddle. 

Incidents like the foregoing furnish material for many a hearty 
laugh at their own expense, by the survivors of those sportive 
scenes ; and not only do these find pleasure in such recitals, so 
also does the veteran schoolmaster delight in recounting the 
pleasures of " boarding round ;" of the abundant luxuries and 
merry makings at each new home he found, in his revolution 
around the district ; of the days when teachers' wages were $8 a 
month in winter, and six shillings a week in summer. It is re- 
lated that a gentleman well known in public circles, thirty- 
five years ago taught a summer school in this town for $i a week. 
He was a competent and highly esteemed teacher, and the price 
he received was greater than had been previously paid. Com- 
mon schools in the past seem to have furnished education almost 
without money or price, nevertheless the schools of DeRuyter 
have been her glory and her strength. They have nurtured and 
sent forth into the world a class of distinguished and highly en- 
dowed spirits. 

But very much of the credit for this, must of course be 
awarded to the teachers employed, wlio were often very 
fortunately selected. Among these was David Mayne, Esq.,, 
who taught many years in De Ruyter, and was regarded by 
all heads of families as tJie teacher best qualified to train 
the youth. He taught several consecutive seasons in the 
Burdick disttict, and was sought as teacher in all sections 
of the town. He was loved and respected by his pupils 
everywhere ; from him they received instruction in morals 
and reUgion as well as in learning ; to him a large 
number of De Ruyter's citizens, once his pupils, are in- 
debted for a correct formation of character. Our public 
men whom this town has sent forth, who have made them- 
selves honored abroad and have adorned the positions they 



DE RUYTER. 263 

occupied, are largely indebted to David Mayne for the 
elements of their education and the founding of right prin-' 
ciples and noble manhood. Among those who were his 
pupils, we mention Gen. Zadock T. Bentley, attorney and 
counselor at law ; Paul Chase, well known as a long time 
teacher and rare scholar ; Dr. Phineas H. Burdick, A. V. 
Bentley, Esq., J. B. Wells, Esq., Hon. John F. Benjamin, 
M. C. from Missouri ; Albert G. Burdick, Esq., Sanford M. 
Green, an eminent lawyer and recently one of the Judges 
of the Supreme Court of the State of Michigan ; the late 
Joel Burdick, Esq., Hon. James W. Nye, U. S. Senator 
from Nevada, and the late Hon. Henry C. Goodwin, M. C. 
from this Congressional District, and formerly District At- 
torney for Madison County. 

DE RUYTER VILLAGE, 

Up to 1830, DeRuyter was a quiet country village ; the 
travel of the turnpike and the business of the hotels consti- 
tuted the chief activity of the place. The hotel of Eli Spear 
had been purchased by Thomas C. Nye, was remodeled and 
added to, and under the name of the Mansion House, was 
considerably patronized Mr. Nye connected stage running 
and mail transportation with his hotel keeping, and al- 
together transacted quite an extensive business. There 
was also at this period one store, kept by Col. E. D. Jencks, 
a postoffice, a tannery, and the carding and clothing works 
of Benjamin Mitchell, — built in 18 14, by Joseph Mitchell 
and Job Webb, — which was located near the northeast cor- 
ner of the corporation.* There was a large society of 
Friends who had their meeting house «at Quaker Basin ; 
also a large society of Seventh Day Baptists who held their 
meetings in the school house, and also a society of First 
Day Baptists. A Methodist class had been formed at this 
time also, which held its meetings in the school house. 
Only one school then existed in the village, which was a 

"'*'Nov/ (1870,) converted into the tannery on that location. 



264 MADISON COUNTY. 

large one. There had been a flourishing Lodge of Free 
Masons, which had, however, suspended its workings dur- 
ing the excitement attending the " Morgan affair," so-called. 

About 1832, the business of the village became more ac- 
tive. Live business men were the men of influence in pub- 
lic affairs. At this time there was a prospect that the pro- 
posed canal from Utica to Binghamton might pass through 
here ; at least surveys were made to ascertain if this was 
the most feasible route. Mason Wilbur and George Hull 
were sent to Albany as lobby members, to advocate its 
passage through this town. The result of the surveys, how- 
ever, decided in favor of the Chenango route. 

The proposed railroad of that day, from Chittenango to 
Cazenovia, was to have been extended to DeRuyter. In 
the winter of 1832, the first railroad meeting ever held in this 
part of Madison County, cr in contiguous parts of Onon- 
daga, Cortland and Chenango, convened at the public house 
of T. C. Nye.* The death of Judge Yates in 1836, at the 
commencement of operations for building this road, sus- 
pended matters, and virtually caused the company to aban- 
don the project and disband their organization. 

From 1832, for a term of years the spirit of enterprise 
prevailed ; it was an era of building. Abijah Annas built 
a large number of fine residences in various sections of the 
village ; the Gardners built their wagon shop and elegant 
dwellings; Mitchell's Carding and clothing works were 
turned into a tannery ; the farm of Oliver Mitchell was cut 

*The DeRuyter New Era of April, 1871, speaks further of this railroad meeting 
in 1832, as follows : 

" It was largely represented by prominent men who favored the project, among 
whom were Judge Yates, before mentioned. Gen. J. D. Ledyard of Cazenovia, the 
Hon. Wm. K. Fuller, member of Congress from this district, John Fairchild, ed- 
itor of the Cazenovia Monitor, the late James Nye, Elias P. Benjamin, Benjamin 
Enos, Z. T. Bentley, Bradley Merchant and Stephen G. Sears, Esqs, of this village, 
all now deceased, and Col. Jencks, who yet survives; also Dr. Miller of Truxton, 
Luther Bowen and Mr. Tyler of Otseic, Mr. Avery of Chenango, and we believe, 
Mr. Whitney of Broome County, togctiier with divers others whose names we can- 
not, after the lapse of thirty-nine years, recall. The meeting was ably and eloquent- 
ly addressed by Judge Fuller, Gen. Ledyard, Judge Niies, Dr. Miller and others, all 
ardent and enthusiastic in support of the measure." 



DE RUYTER. 265 

up into building lots, and in all parts, the village grew, 
lengthened and widened. In 1833 it was incorporated. In 

1834, the Seventh Day Baptist Church was built, and ope- 
rations for the erection of DeRuyter Institute, under the 
patronage of that denomination, were in progress. Through 
the untiring zeal of its chief projector, Elder Alexander 
Campbell, and his effective corps of helpers, who constituted 
the " building committee," the Institute was completed in 
1837. In 1835, tl'is DeRuyter Union Church was erected, 
and somewhere about this time A. N. Annas put up a block 
of stores, opposite the brick store, which was burned 
about ten years since (1870). Meanwhile the vicinity of 
the Institute and S. D. Church, became rapidly occupied 
with dwellings belonging to the people connected with those 
institutions. The " DeRuyter Herald " was published in 

1835, by C. W. Mason, and in 1836, the "Protestant Senti- 
nel " was issued, which continued to be published for seve- 
ral years with various changes of name. For twelve or fif- 
teen years, artisans, mechanics and merchants flourished. 
There was at one time eleven dry goods stores in this vil- 
lage. At the date of its incorporation its population was 600. 

Since 1840, business establishments have been started in 
the village, that have failed. A foundry was built and in 
operation for several years ; a stock company put up a 
farming tool factory on an extensive plan, and a steam saw 
mill, both of which after a time failed, and a few years since 
the buildings took fire and burned down. 

The grist mill now (1870,) owned by Mr. Hill, has been 
built since 1840. Also the Page Hotel has been extensively 
rebuilt by Abijah Annas, at a cost of ^9,000, and for years, 
as the " Annas House," it was widely known as a first-class 
hotel. Mr. Annas sold ; and now, as the " Tabor House," 
it retains its former reputation. The Mansion House has 
been cut up into several shcps, where various trades are 
prosecuted. The bank of E. B. Parsons & Co. has been re- 
cently established. 



266 MADISON COUNTY. 

A new era has dawned upon the history of DeRuyter, 
with the advent of railroads ; the Midland passes through 
it on its way from Norwich to Auburn, and the exten- 
sion of the Canastota and Cazenovia to Homer, crosses 
the Midland in this village. The history of these enter- 
prises, together with others of a late date, and the movements 
of this people in the great national struggle with a gigantic 
rebellion, (the records of which, we trust, are ample and 
well preserved,) we leave to the future historian. 

SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST INSTITUTE. 

The prime mover and pioneer in the enterprise of open- 
ing a denominational school at De Ruyter village, was 
Elder Alexander Campbell, now residing at Verona, Oneida 
County, N. Y. A meeting was held, pursuant to his call, 
sometime in the autumn of 1834, to take into consideration 
the matter of establishing in this place a literary institution, 
to be under the direction of the Seventh Day Baptist de- 
nomination. At this meeting. Elder Campbell was appoint- 
ed to circulate a subscription among the churches of this 
denomination, for that purpose. The result was, $13,937 
was obtained.* 

In the summer or autumn of 1835, a building committee 
was chosen to erect suitable buildings. LeBaron Goodwin, 
(father of the late Hon. H. C. Goodwin,) Henry Crandall, 
Elmer D. Jencks and Matthew Wells, jr., were members of 
this committee. The Legislature of 1836, passed an act of 
incorporation, appointing as trustees the following gentle- 
men : — Henry Crandall, LeBaron Goodwin, Ira Spencer, 
Elmer D. Jencks, James Nye, Alexander Campbell, Joel 
Greene, Martin Wilcox, Eli S. Bailey, Adin Burdick, Mat- 
thew Wells, jr., Perry Burdick. 

In the spring of 1837, the building was so far completed, 
that a school was opened under the charge of Solomon 
Carpenter, from Rensselaer County, as Principal, and Miss 
Sarah A. Robinson, from the Troy Female Seminary, as 

* The citizens of DeRuyter contributed liberally. 



DE RUYTER. 267 

Preceptress; but the institute proper was not opened until 
September, 1837, at which time Eber M. Rollo, A. M., a 
graduate from WilHamstown College, Massachusetts, was 
Principal, and Miss Robinson, above named, continued 
as Preceptress. For a few years the school was extensively 
patronized by the churches of the S, D. B. denomination, 
located in various counties in the States of New Jersey and 
Rhode Island, and in the counties of Rensselaer, Jefferson, 
Oneida, Allegany, Cortland, Chenango and Madison, in this 
State. But soon academic schools were started at Alfred, 
N. Y., Shiloh, N. J., and Hopkinton, R. I., which resulted 
in a withdrawal of foreign patronage, and consequently 
more or less pecuniary embarrassment followed. It has, 
nevertheless, with many changes, continued in operation to 
the present time, it being now (1870,) prosperous under the 
care of L. E. Livermore, A. M., Principal. The original cost 
of the buildings and grounds of the institution was about 
^22,000. 

MASONIC. 

About 1 8 16, the first Masonic Lodge was instituted at 
DeRuyter. It continued through a long number of years, 
and was a means of forming and perpetuating" friendly ties, 
and of promoting social feelings among its members, 
early residents of the town and vicinity. It included many 
leading men of the day, among whom were the Hon. 
Benj. Enos, James Nye, Esq., Samuel Thompson, Jona- 
than Shedd and Elias P. Benjamin, Esq., Col. E. D. Jencks, 
Capt. Jeremiah Gage, Reuben Doane, Jonathan Brainard, 
John Hewitt, Nathan B. Wilbur, Capt. Epaphras Leet, 
and many others. In the excitement which swept over the 
country upon the abduction and murder of Wm. Morgan, 
in 1827, the lodge suspended its working operations, which 
were never thereafter resumed. Its hall, or place of meet- 
ing, was situated in the long double frame, ancient building 
on the south side of Albany street, near the east bridge, 
owned for many years by Job Webb. 



268 MADISON COUNTY. 

Among those who constituted the lodge, if we except 
Capt. Leet, who does not now reside in DeRuyter, Col. 
Jencks is the sole- survivor in the town. 

In 1872, the DeRuyter Lodge F. & A. M., No. 692, was 
formed, and continues a successful organization. 

SKETCHES OF DE RUYTER CITIZENS. 

Dr. Ira Spencer is a prominent citizen of DeRuyter, 
whose long residence in this town, and extensive prac- 
tice here and in the region round about, have identified him 
with the history of the place for a great number of years. 
On the completion of his medical studies, while yet a young 
man, he settled in DeRuyter, in 1830, and in connection 
with the late Dr. Nathan Collins, entered at once into a 
successful and extensive practice. In 1835, ^^- Collins 
having emigrated west, and the labors of the profession in- 
creasing. Dr. Spencer formed a co-partnership with Dr. 
James Whitiord, which continued for some years. Upon 
its dissolution in 1838, these two gentlemen thenceforward 
became active competitors, and took a leading position 
among the members of the medical fraternity in this section 
of the country; Dr. Spencer has continued in an unbroken 
career of practice, often laborious and responsible, now over 
forty years, extending into the counties of Madison, Onon- 
daga, Cortland and Chenango, in which he has frequently 
been called by his medical brethren, on account of his skill 
and experience, to important consultations in difficult and 
doubtful cases in practice. He is a self-made man. During 
these long and eventful years, he has accumulated a fine 
property, and raised a respected family to competency, and 
an honorable social standing in the community. He ac- 
quired his profession, unaided by others, alternately pursu- 
ing his studies, and teaching in winters as a means of pecu- 
niary assistance, and commenced practice with nothing 
but his abilities, native and acquired, together with that sort 
of determination and perseverance which seldom fail to in- 
sure success. At the age of sixty-six, (May, 1871,) al- 



DE RUYTER. 269 

though his hair is white with the frosts of many years, he 
still enjoys a good degree of physical health, and continues 
in active business habits, the oldest physician in DeRuyter. 

Dr. James Whitford, another long resident physician in 
DeRuyter, came to the place in 1835, a young man of mod- 
est and unassuming demeanor, and entered into practice with 
Dr. Spencer, then already here, vv'hich relation continued for 
a few years, and on their business interests becoming sepa- 
rate, continued in an honorable and successful practice for 
thirty years. He married Miss Mary Gage, eldest daughter 
of Arza Gage, Esq., purchased the dwelling-house built and 
formerly owned by Benj. R. Mitchell, on Utica street, and 
reared and educated a family which held rank in the 
social scale among the first in the community. Dr. Whit- 
ford. like Dr. Spencer, acquired, by hard work and perse- 
verance, a handsome property as a reward of diligence and 
professional ability. He took a deep interest in the military 
discipline and education of the citizen soldiery, and was for 
many years Colonel and Commandant of the 42d Regiment, 
19th Brigade of the Militia of the State. On the close of 
the war in 1866, he resigned his commission. His health 
having become somewhat impaired, in the spring of 1869, 
he removed, together with his family, to a more genial and 
healthful climate, where the rigors of winter are less severe- 
ly felt — to a beautiful location in Onondaga Valley, near the 
city of Syracuse, where he now resides. 

Dr. S. S. Clarke comes next among the physicians of this 
town. He studied with Dr. Spencer, received his diploma 
about twenty years ago, and commenced practice at De- 
Ruyter, where he still resides. He, too, has acquired a fair 
property, and is establishing, by dint of hard work and dili- 
gent attention to business, a reputable standing in the pro- 
fession. But as a sketch of him here would be more imme- 
diately identified with the current events of the present 
time, rather than the past history of an early day, we leave 
his present and prospective career to the pen of the future 
historian. 



270 MADISON COUNTY. 

The Legal Fraternity of DeRiiyter has included several 
men of consideiable note, and some of them of fine talents. 
Abraham Payne was the first lawyer that ever settled in 
DeRuyter. It was about the year 1823. He erected a 
fine dwelling-house on Utica street, which is now the resi- 
dence of Mr. Allen Sutton, leather manufacturer and shoe 
dealer, and opened an office on what is now (1871,) the site 
of the DeRuyter Bank. Mr. Payne was a young man of 
■liberal education, well read in law, and for a few years did 
a good business without any local competitors. But his 
native diffidence was such, that it was said by Dr. Hubbard 
Smith, the justice before whom he had frequent occasion to 
appear in the trial of suits, that h^ lacked the cheek neces- 
sary to a modern lawyer. Mr. Payne was a gentleman 
liighl}' esteemed. After some years he removed to Seneca 
P'^alls, abandoned the practice of law, and embarked 'exten- 
sively in the milling business, in which he became quite 
wealthy, but subsequently lost his property by some un- 
lucky turn in the wheel of fortune. We believe he after- 
wards removed to Ohio, and has been some years de- 
ceased. 

Martin P. Sweet was the next lawyer in this town. He 
opened an office about the year 1830, in connection with 
Lorenzo Sherwood, a young man of fine abilities, from 
Hoosick, Rensselaer County, N. Y., who here finished with 
him his course of study. Mr. Sweet was a self-made man. 
He possessed splendid oratorical powers, and was noted 
for much eccentricity of character. Before a jury, or in 
public debate, his flights of oratory were often brilliant, and 
rarely excelled. He removed west and died since the close 
of the war, somewhere in the State of Illinois. 

Zadock T. Bentley, afterwards known as Gen. Bentley, 
succeeded Mr, Sweet in the practice of law at De Ruyter, 
and formed a partnership with Geo. W, Stone, a young man 
of great promise, and fine intellectual endowments ; and sub- 
sequently thereto, the law firm of Stone & Bentley on the 



DE RUYTER. 2/1 

one side, and Lorenzo & Luman Sherwood on the other, 
constituted the legal force of DeRuyter, till 1840, when Mr. 
Stone died, and Luman Sherwood removed to Cayuga 
County, and his brother, Lorenzo Sherwood, in connection 
with James W. Nye, (now Senator Nye,) went to Hamilton, 
where they opened an office in that town. Gen. Z. T. 
Bentley was a native of Washington County, N. Y., and 
removed to DeRuyter with his father, when a child ; with 
the help of his boys, Mr. Bentley cleared up his farm, and 
gave them such advantages as the place afforded. Young 
Bentley chose the profession of the law, and entered the 
office of Hon. Alonzo G. Hammond of Rensselaer County, 
studying during the summers, and teaching during the win- 
ters. He finished his studies with Judge Darwin Smith, at 
Rochester. He was admitted to the bar in 1833, and im- 
mediately opened an office in DeRuyter, and continued 
practice till 1843, when he was elected County Clerk. In 
1850 he was appointed Brigadier-General of the 19th Bri- 
gade N. Y. S. Militia. He performed a great deal of liter- 
ary work for the State Militia Association. During the late 
war, his voice was often heard maintaining the government 
in putting down the rebellion. Z. T. Bentley was a lawyer of 
superior attainments, well read, and an advocate of much 
ability. His death from paralysis, at his residence in Onei- 
da, in July, 1870, though sudden, Was not wholly unlooked 
for by friends. 

At a little later date, A. V. Bentley, then a young man, 
who had pursued the study of law in the office of his 
brother, Z. T. Bentley, was admitted to the bar, in 1842, at 
the July term of the old Supreme Court, in Utica, the Hon. 
Samuel Nelson, Chief Justice, presiding, with Esek Cowan 
and Greene C. Bronson, Associate Judges. A. V. Bentley 
opened an office separate from that of his brother, and 
thenceforward for several years they were pitted against 
each other professionally. Their competition, whilst hon- 
orable and friendly, was nevertheless exceedingly animated. 



272 MADISON COUNTY. 

and the trial of their causes was contested inch by inch 
between these two brothers, with the greatest spirit and 
earnestness. The Bentleys continued practice until on the 
election of Z. T. Bentley to the office of County Clerk, when 
he removed to Morrisville, leaving A. V. Bentley sole master 
of the field. About this time, two young men, scarcely 
emerged from boyhood, David J. Mitchell and Henry C. 
Goodwin, both DeRuyter boys, entered the office of A. V. 
Bentley, and for four years pursued a regular course of 
reading and clerkship at law therein. During this time 
the practice of the law, particularly the trial of causes in 
Justice's Court, at DeRuyter and in the adjacent sections 
of Onondaga, Cortland and Chenango counties, to which 
their field extended, afforded opportunity for the exhibition 
of rare legal talents and acumen, and did much towards 
laying the foundation on which the subsequent eminence 
and success of those young practitioners were built. On 
their admission to the bar, they opened an office in Ham- 
ilton, and under the copartnership name of Goodwin & 
Mitchell, rapidly won their way to distinction. A^out this 
time, A. V. Bentley, Esq., whose health had become im- 
paired through the effects of an early infirmity, was elected 
a Justice of the Peace, an office to which the people of De- 
Ruyter elected him term after term for twenty-five years. 
Mr. Bentley was regarded as a good lawyer and safe coun- 
selor. His office practice has been extensive, covering a 
period of more than a quarter of a century. In that de- 
partment especially, and as a magistrate, he has done a 
vast amount of conveyancing relating to real estate. But 
a few title deeds, contracts, or securities relating to real 
estate, made, executed, or acknowledged within that time, 
at DeRuyter and the adjoining towns of Georgetov/n, Cuy- 
ler and Lincklaen, can be found, which are not in the hand- 
writing, or do not bear the signature of Mr. Bentley, which 
are as well known there as he is personally. His legal 
advice has been much sought by parties, because he has 



DE RUYTER. 273 

been in the habit of bestowing it disinterestedly, and much 
of the time gratuitously, and because of his always coun- 
seling peace, and the adjustment of difficulties without a 
resource to law. 

About the time that Goodwin & Mitchell went to Hamil- 
ton, A. Scott Sloan and H. C. Miner, opened an office at 
De Ruyter, under the name of Miner & Sloan, having their 
office in the Annas block. Mr. Sloan was considered a 
good lawyer, and H. C. Miner was a thorough business 
man, possessed of great executive force and energy, and was 
capable of enduring physically a large amount of hard 
work, qualities which were brought to bear in their prac- 
tice. For several years thereafter they did a large business ; 
and on the removal of Mr. Sloan to the State of Wisconsin, 
Mr. Miner continued to practice. It was in the office of 
Miner & Sloan that D. Q. Mitchell, Esq., now also a practic- 
ing lawyer at De Ruyter, and a brother of D. J. Mitchell, 
prosecuted the study of law, and was soon afterwards admitted 
to the bar. He thereupon opened an office at De Ruyter 
and entered practice, in the meantime holding the office of 
Supervisor of the town for two terms, and discharging, at a 
later date, the duties of Commissioner of the Board of 
Enrollment for this Congressional District, during the 
rebellion, to which office he had been appointed. The 
duties of that post were very arduous and responsible, and 
Mr. Mitchell acquitted himself with credit and satisfaction 
to the public. 

About the same time L. B. Kern, Esq., removed from 
Morrisville to De Ruyter, and formed a connection in 
partnership with Mr. Miner, and under the firm name of 
Miner & Kern, forthwith commenced an extensive practice. 
Mr. Kern is the only lawyer from De Ruyter, who has been 
honored, whilst a resident thereof, with the office of 
District Attorney. The firm of Miner & Kern has 
been recently dissolved, and these men have now separate 
offices in De Ruyter, each doing a large amount of business. 



2/4 MADISON COUNTY, 

Among the citizens of De Ruyter, A. N. Annas deserves 
especial mention. He has long been one of the most 
efficient business men of the town. He came to DeRuyter 
in 1834, or thereabouts, opened a stove and tin shop, and 
has wrought out for himself a handsome fortune with his 
own hands. Whilst in the mercantile business he was one 
of the firm of Elmore, Annas & Ayer, who erected in 1841 
the stone stores, known as the Lafayette block, on Cort- 
land Street, the finest block of buildings ever in DeRuyter, 
and which was burned a few years ago. He also built 
the public house known for many years as the "Annas 
House," now the "Tabor House," and has erected more 
dwelling houses and buildings of various kinds, and done 
more for the external improvement of the place than any 
other man. He is a man of excellent practical judgment,, 
and has been repeatedly honored by his townsmen with 
the office of Supervisor and other positions of public trust, 
the duties of which he ever discharged with fidelity and 
success. 



Col. Elmer D. Jencks, was born in the town of Lenox, 
Mass., in the year 1791. In 1796, with his parents, he 
removed to the town of Smyrna, Chenango County, where 
they lived till 1809, when he came to the town of De- 
Ruyter, being then eighteen years of age. Mr. Jencks 
belonged to the militia during the war of 1812 to 181 5, 
and in 18 14 received promotion. From the office of 
Sergeant, he passed through the several grades up to that 
of Colonel of the regiment, which last promotion he 
received in 1827, by which title he has since that time 
been known. The same year he received the commission 
of Postmaster which he held several years. 

For the first thirty years of this century, cattle buying 
and drover business was a source of great profit to the 
country. In this Col. Jencks was extensively engaged. 
Such men as Gen. Erastus Cleaveland, Maj. Samuel Fore- 



DE RUYTER. 



275 



man and Maj. Ellis Morse, were his colleagues in this 
department, and they frequently met and traveled together, 
conferred with each other, and in many ways increased the 
interests of the trade throughout the county, thereby en- 
riching the coffers of our farmers. Col. Jencks was widely 
known. Such has been his integrity all through life, that 
all men honored him with their confidence ; such his 
public spirit, that local enterprise desired his sanction to 
receive the sanction of the mass. Although not religious, 
he was a supporter of religious societies, and although not 
a political man, his opinions on political matters shaped 
those of others. Prudent, clear-headed, self-reliant and 
enterprising, with integrity for his guide, is the summing 
up of the character of one of De Ruyter's pioneers, Col. 
Elmer D. Jencks. 

Mr. Jencks lost his first wife in 1824, and was again married 
in 183 1, to Mrs. Matilda Wallace, who with him still lives 
in DeRuyter village. His son Elmer D. Jencks, jr., resides 
one mile south of the village. Col. Jencks is still hale 
and hearty, at the advanced age of 83 years. 



We find the name of Hon. Warren Merchant as another 
among the principal men of this town. He has served with 
ability in many positions in town. County and State. Mr. 
Merchant, while Supervisor, lent his own private credit to 
meet the wants of the town in raising funds for enlisted 
men, and in raising bounties and otherwise aiding soldiers. 
He was a warm friend and advocate of the Midland Rail- 
road, being a member of its first Board of Directors. 



Among others of DeRuyter's native born citizens, whose 
talents and positions in the arena of public life have given 
credit to the influences and early training of their native 
town, and consequent pride to this, their foster-mother, 
may be named Darwin E. Smith, one of the Judges 
of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, a 



2/6 MADISON COUNTY, 

son of Dr. Hubbard Smith, the pioneer physician of De- 
Ruyter, and who was himself one of the Associate Judges 
of Madison County for a time ; Hon. John F. Benjamin, 
Member of Congress from Missouri, of the pioneer Benja- 
min family of DeRuyter ; Hon. James W. Nye, U. S. Sen- 
ator from Nevada, son of James Nye, the pioneer, also born 
in DeRuyter, and Ezra Cornell, founder of the Cornell Uni- 
versity at Ithaca, whose boyhood was spent in DeRuyter, 
where, amid poverty and labor he learned the principles of 
true greatness, and gathered wisdom and strength for a life 
of usefulness to his fellowmen. 



The subjoined obituary of Hon. Benjamin Enos is alto- 
gether too brief a notice of one of DeRuytcr's first men in 
the days past. We are compelled, however, to offer only 
this, it being all the data we have at hand. 

" Obituary. — Hon. Benjamin Enos died at his residence in De- 
Ruyter on Tuesday evening, Feb. 4lh, 1868. He was born in 
Riclnnond, Washington County, R. I., Feb. 13, 1788, making 
his age eighty years, lacking nine days. Mr. Enos has been a 
resident of DeRuyter for many years, and was one of the most 
active politicians of the Democratic party until incapacitated 
from age and infirmity from taking part in the active duties of 
life. He filled several town offices, and was member of Assem- 
bly from Madison County in 1834, 1839 and 1840 ; Canal Com- 
missioner from Feb. 8, 1842, to Jan. i, 1845, and State Treas- 
urer from Feb. 18, 1845, to Feb., 1846 — all of which offices he 
filled with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his con- 
stituents. For several years past Mr. Enos has been nearly 
crippled by disease, and has suffered a good deal of pain. He 
has resided with his son-in-law, Charles H. Maxson, Esq., for 
many years, where he found not only a comfortable home, but 
the kind hands of affection to soothe and comfort his declining 
years." 

CHURCHES. 

The Seventh Day Baptist Church of DeRuyter, was or- 
ganized in 1 8 16. John Green, licensed to preach by this 
society, was the first pastor in 18 18. The S. D. B. Church 
of Lincklaen was formed from this. The edifice was erect- 
ed in 1834, at a cost of about $2,200. 



DE RUYTER, 



277 



The Presbyterian Church of DeRuyter village, was organ- 
ized about 1830. First settled pastor, Rev. Mr. Adams. 
Their house of worship was built in 1835, by the " DeRuy- 
ter Religious Society," composed of Presbyterians, Univer- 
salists and Methodists, and called the Union Meeting 
House. 

TJie Methodist Church. A class was formed about 1830 
in DeRuyter village, holding meetings first in the school 
house and afterwards in the Union Meeting House.- Rev. 
Orrin Torry, pastor in 1861, carried forward the project of 
building a church, and in 1863 it was completed. 

TJie Society of Friends commenced their meetings about 
1804, holding them in the school house in the village. 
They built their meeting house at the "Basin" in 18 16, in 
which ancient building they still continue to hold their 
meetings. 

The Baptist Church of DeRuyter village was first formed 
in 1797. In 1816, the society was revived. About 1820 
the first church was built. They have again built on a 
large and improved plan. 

The Methodist Society has a church at Sheds Corners, 
and -BiUniversalist Church is also located there. 

NEWSPAPERS OF DE RUYTER. 

TJie DeRuytef Herald was published in 1835, by C. W. 
Mason. 

The Protestant Sentinel was moved from Schenectady to 
DeRuyter in Nov., 1836. It was published by J. & C. H. 
Maxon until the fall of 1837. It then passed into the 
hands of Wm. D. Cochrane, by whom it was issued as 

TJie Protestant Sentinel and Seventh Day Baptist Journal. 
In February, 1840, Joel Greene became its publisher, and 
changed it to the 

Seventh Day Baptist Register. In 1841, it passed into the 
hands of James Bailey, by whom it was continued until 1845. 

The National Banner was commenced at DeRuyter in 
October, 1847, by A. C. Hill, and continued two years. 



2/8 MADISON COUNTY. 

The Central New Yorker was published at DeRuyter by 
E. F. & C. B. Gould, from September, 1848, to May, 185 1. 

The Banner of the Times was started in DeRuyter by 
Walker & Hill, and continued until 1855. 

The DeRuyter Weekly News ^a.s established in 1862, by 
J. E. N. Backus, and was discontinued in 1864. 

The Sabbath School Gem, monthly, was published in i ^6}) 
and '64, by J. E. N. Backus. 

The DeRuyter New Era was commenced Sept. 29th, 
1870, John R. Beden publisher, by whom it is still con- 
tinued. 



EATON. 279 



CHAPTER VI 



EATON. 



Boundaries. — Face of the Country. — Lakes and Streams. — 
Township No. 2. — Incidents in the first Settlement. — Sketches 
of the Pioneer Families. — Indians. — Mills, Roads and 
other Improvements. — Log City, now Eaton. — First Houses, 
Tavern, Manufactures. — Incidents. — Masonic Lodge. — Mor- 
risville. — The Village before 18 17. — Location of the County 
Seat. — Enterprises. — Bennett Bicknell. — Sketches of other 
Prominent Men. — Leeville, now West Eaton. — This Village 
before 1840. — Manufactures. — Enterprise and Progress. — 
Alderbrook. — Fanny Forester. — Pierceville. — Pratts Hollow ; 
its Manufactures. — Churches. — Newspapers. 

The tow^n of Eaton is situated near the center of the 
County. It is bounded north by Smithfield and Stock- 
bridge, east by Madison, south by Lebanon, and west by 
Nelson. 

The explorers of this town found it to be a goodly land, 
lying fairly to the sun, rich in its soil, and in every way a 
desirable location. The rolling upland rises higher to the 
northward, where the water-shed, the upheaval of some 
long ago convulsion, passes across in an easterly and west- 
erly direction. Along the length of this elevation, at many 
points in Madison County, arise fountains closely approxi- 
mating each other, whose waters diverging, eventually lose 
themselves, the one through the southern channels in the 
Chesepeake Bay, the other mingling with the waters of the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. In one locality, from opposite eaves 
of buildings, the showers descending find northern and 



280 MADISON COUNTY. 

southern courses to the ocean ; and at another point where 
two springs arise, a person standing between might, cast in 
each a divided cup of ^yater, the atoms of which would 
reach the Atlantic, a distance of at least ten geographical 
degrees apart. The valley of the Chenango river, which 
passes through the center of the town, is one of the most 
beautiful of the country, very fertile, and some of the finest 
farms are here spread out. That the wealth of the hill- 
sides has come down, by washing, in process of time, to 
enrich the valley, is evident ; and though the farms of these 
slopes are impoverished thereby, their thrifty and enterpris- 
ing owners, do not suffer them to so remain. By good 
husbandry the uplands are steadily increasing in produc- 
tiveness. 

The Chenango Canal traverses the east border of the 
town. The Eaton Reservoir lies on the west border and 
covers an area of 284 acres of land. Its elevation above 
the Canal is 60 feet. From this reservoir flows Eaton 
brook, (or "Alder brook " as the people chose to call it,) 
through a deep and narrow valley, with considerable fall, 
affording numerous valuable mill sites along its entire 
route, a distance of about five miles to its junction with 
the Chenango at Eaton village. Hatch's Lake is a charming 
ratural body of water, situated near the southwest corner of 
the town. It was once the head waters of one branch of the 
Otselic, its outlet being at the west end, near the house of 
Harrison Hatch ; but on the construction of the Chenango 
Canal in 1836, that outlet was closed, and its waters directed 
through Bradley Brook Reservoir to the canal. The lake 
covers an area of 136 acres. Having no inlet it is sustained 
by springs in its bed, some of which are doubtless impreg- 
nated with strong mineral properties. As an evidence of 
this, in the winter of 1843 and '44, the water assumed a 
reddish hue, caused probably by a greater flow than usual 
of coloring matter from the springs. The report went out^ 
at the time that " Hatch's lake had turned to blood 1' 



EATON. 261 

Occurring so soon after the period of time arrived at by 
the ."Miller theory," for the final consummation of all 
things, it created no little excitement among the supersti- 
tiously inclined, and thousands went to see it. A short 
distance east of the lake, on the south border of the town, 
is Bradley Brook Reservoir, constructed also in 1835 and '36, 
covering an area of 134 acres. Both of these bodies of 
water are well stored with fish and are favorite points of 
resort in the fishing season. 

From the northwest corner of the town, flows the 
Chenango, which, before reaching the valley bed, affords 
several mill sites. Leland's Ponds and Woodman's Lake, 
lie in picturesque locations at the divergance of the Oris- 
kany and Chenango valleys, and are the hqad waters of one 
of the Chenango branches. They have been converted 
into feeders for the canal. Leland's Ponds, which are 
respectively the " upper" and the "middle" lakes, cover 
together an area of 176 acres, the upper being 40 feet deep, 
the other 50 feet. Woodman's Lake, being the lower or 
most southern of the three, covers 148 acres. When the 
country was sparsely settled and dams for mills had not 
yet obstructed the river, an ocean fish called "alewives," 
used to come up to these ponds in schools, and furnished 
much enjoyment in fishing as well as in good eating. 

Leland's Ponds and Woodman's Lake anciently belonged 
to the fisheries of the Oneidas, when their home and village 
was but a short distance away. According to the tradition 
given by David Cusick, the Tuscarora historian, which 
reaches back more than 300 years, when the " Holder of 
the Heavens " planted the different families of the Six Na- 
tions, he led the Oneidas to the head of a creek, which was 
a branch of the Susquehanna, having its head in a lake 
which he called " Col. Allen's Lake." This cj-eek was called 
" Kaw-na-taw-ta-ruh, i. e. Pine Woods." This family was 
directed to take up their residence near that creek, and they 
were named " Ne-haw-ve-tah-go, i. e. Big Tree," (Oneidas.) 



282 MADISON COUNTY. 

The inference is readily drawn, that the vicinity of Pine 
Woods and the lakes, was the home assigned them in the 
tradition, temporary though it may have been ; for the 
wonderful charmed stone in resting upon the hights of 
Stockbridge, bade them build their village within the circle 
of its influence. And yet this place was all their home. 
Their trail to the Susquehanna passed these lakes, and there 
were many nooks and well-trodden paths around their 
shores, which were as familiar to the Indian as the sight of 
his own cabin. At a late period, one of the most notorious 
of their fast decaying race, Abram Antone, made this place 
his rendezvous. He sometimes dwelt here for months in 
succession, living in a wigwam he built near by, and for 
years he spent nrost of his time around these lakes, quietly 
or moodily fishing, or stealthily pursuing game among the 
tangled foliage, sloping back from their wooded shores. 

From its elevation and the peculiar situation of hills and 
valleys, Eaton furnishes more basins to retain supplies of 
water for the canal than any other town along its route ; 
and we may further add, that Madison County furnishes, 
with but one exception, (Skaneateles Lake,) the entire sup- 
ply from the south for the long level of the Erie Canal. 

The soil upon the hills is a clayey and gravelly loam, 
best adapted to pasturage ; and in the valleys a gravelly 
loam and alluvium. Occasionally beds of blue clay are 
found. In the south part of the town are many quarries 
of slate stone, which are largely made use of for road pur- 
poses. By being merely thrown upon the traveled path, or 
with but little preparation beyond leveling, the action of 
rains and the friction of vehicles, soon converts this stone 
into a smooth, hard, dry road bed. Limestone boulders are 
found upon and near the surface in many places. Thirty 
years ago and more, these were collected and burned into 
lime. Mineral springs also are found in this vicinity. One 
sulphur spring is situated in the meadow south of the 
Pierceville factory, on the premises of the Company ; and 



EATON. 283 

another, of considerable strength, bubbles up from its bed in 
adiminutive swamp, on the premises of Amos Hammond, in 
Pierceville, not far distant from the other. When this sec- 
tion was a forest, herds of deer resorted to these springs, 
having a fondness for sulphur water, equal, it was said, to 
their fondness for salt water ; hence the earliest settlers 
called this resort " the deer lick." 

Township No. 2, of "Chenango. Twenty Towns," was 
originally set off in the town of Hamilton, from which it 
was taken in 1807, and named in honor of Gen. Wm. Eaton, 
commander of the United States forces at Tripoli. 

This township was included in the purchase of the Eng- 
lish Company acting for Sir Wm. Pultney. Charles Wil- 
liamson was the principal agent in New York. William 
Smith was constituted agent in the purchase of this, to- 
gether with several other towns, hence it is recorded that 
the Government grant for township No. 2, was patented 
April 1 6th, 1794, William S. Smith, patentee. It is said 
the Company paid about thirty cents per acre. The survey 
gave the town 28,245 acres. 

Subsequently William S. Smith resigned his agency in 
favor of Robert Troup. In the arrangement thus effected, 
there was reserved for Smith the tier of lots west of the 
center, and having also considerable possessions in like man- 
ner set off to him in the adjoining town, Lebanon, he es- 
tablished his brother, Justus B. Smith, at Smith's Valley, 
as agent ; hence in the name of the latter, transfers of these 
lands were made. 

The autumn of 1792 brought to the town of Eaton the 
advance skirmishers of civilization, John and James Salis- 
bury, from Vermont, in company with Bates and Stowell, 
the pioneers of Lebanon, became the pioneers of this town, 
in the matter of making the first clearing and opening the 
way for the pioneer settler. They located on lot No. 94. 
Their energy, persevcance and endut"ance, in pushing their 
way through the wilderness, in subsisting on simple fare, and 



2^4 MAPISOX COUNTV, 

in accomplishing' the gnititying rosults of opening a line 
clearing to the light of the sun before the winter set in, is 
described in the story of the Lebanon pioneers, in the his- 
torv of that town. The Salisbury brothers, however, went 
awav for the winter and did not return to th^ir farm. 

In 1793, Joshua Leland, and John H. and Benjamin 
Morris, entered town and commenced settlement. Mr. Le- 
land and John 11. Morris had been here the year before 
and selected their location, and this year Mr. Leland re- 
moved his family from Sherburne. Mass., his native place. 
He built his house on Lot Xo. 94. near where Tha.xter 
Dunbar's residence now stands. ]\Irs. Leland was the first 
white woman who crossed the Chenango, and was for 
several months the only white woman of this region. Her 
husband frequently boasted of having the/(7inst w^oman in 
town. As there were many comers and goers of people, 
looking lands, INIr. Leland opened his house for the public 
accommodation; hence, his was. in tact, the first tavern 
kept in town. His house served a most useful purpose, 
particularly as a stopping-place for the incoming families in 
the early spring of the next year. 

In 1795. Benjamin Morse, Daniel Alby. Simeon Gillett 
and Levi Bonney, came in and settled in various localities. 
Benjamin IMorse settled on the old Morse farm. Lot No. 91, 
on the north side of the road leading to Hamilton. It was 
a very pleasant location, a rich valley farm, and was near to 
the Hamilton settlement. The first birth in town was that 
of Sawen ^lorse, son of Benjamin and Deborah IMorse, 
which occurred the first year of their residence here — 1795. 
Mr. ]\Iorse and Joshua Leland purchased the south-east 
quarter, and Benjamin Morris and Calvin Sanger the north- 
east quarter of the town. This vear Mr. Leland moved to 
his location at the small lakes. Daniel Alby settled on land 
east of the Eaton hill, in the neighborhood of Mr. Morse. 
His son, Silas Alby, now (1871,) owns the farm. Simoon 
Gillett located on Lot No. 93, on the tiat east of the river. I\Ir. 



EATON. 285 

Gillclt died in the year 1796, his bein^ the first death which 
occurred in town. His loss was deeply felt, as the new 
settlers were strongly attached to each other. His family 
remained here. One son, Squire Simeon Gillett, jr., lived 
here many years. Levi Bonney located on the farm east 
of ICaton depot, and resided there till he died, in 1855, 
aged eighty years. His son owns the homestead yet. 

Col. Leland (as he was always called,) built the first grist 
mill of the town in 1795. It was situated at the foot of the 
upper lake, or between " Leland's Lakes," as they were 
de.signated at that day. He also built a saw mill at the 
same place. To increase the water power of these mills it 
became necessary to raise the dam. This caused an over- 
flow of many ?dditional acres of the adjacent low, swampy 
land, on which the water was so shallow as to produce an 
impure atmosphere, seriously affecting the health of the 
people now rapidly settling in. It was finally deemed a 
wiser plan to forego the benefit of the mills, than suffer dis- 
ease and death to devastate the vicinity. The neighbors 
therefore purchased the mills, removed them, and drained 
the pond basin, thus effecting a remedy for the evil and re- 
covering much valuable land. The Colonel commenced 
tavern keeping immediately on his removal to the lakes. 
After the discontinuance of the mills, he built a pota.sh 
manufactory on the north shore of the middle lake, from 
which he received a considerable income for those days, it 
being an article which brought cash in market. He followed 
the business till bis death, in 18 10, which occurred by acci- 
dent while on a journey to Albany with a load of salts. His 
remains were brought home and buried in a small burial 
ground on his own farm, where others also have been in- 
terred, and where a few white slabs may be seen at this 
day, in a quiet, lovely nook, by the charming lakes, 

Joshua Leland was an original character, well calculated 
to win his way and establish himself successfully in the new 
country. Mrs. Leland was an excellent woman, possessing 



286 MADISON COUNTY. 

great energy and ambition, full of good humor, and not 
wanting in tact. She was beloved by everybody — by the 
Indians as well as by her white neighbors, — and was in all 
respects adapted to pioneer life. She reared a large family 
of children. In the naming of their sons, the Colonel illus- 
trated a humorous and peculiar vein in his composition ; he 
resolved that the vowels should constitute the initial letters 
of their names, consequently six sons were honored as fol- 
lows : — Amasa, E/ra, Isaac, Orrison, Uriah and Yale. 
Having the seventh son, he was christened Joshua, after 
himself. There were three daughters, whose names were 
Phebe, Sylvia and Juliette. For years, several of this family 
lived in town. Numbers of them have died, and at present 
but one of the once large household is living here — Ezra, 
who is the oldest surviving pioneer of the town of Eaton, he 
being five years ot age when his father came into town. 
His home is a mile and a half east of Morrisville. (Note^.) 
In the year 1796, Joseph Morse, Samuel Sinclair, Lewis 
Willson, Humphrey Palmer, and Dea. McCrellis came in. 
Joseph Morse located at the foot of the hill on the right of 
the road leading from Eaton to Hamilton, on the farm 
known as the "Burchard farm," at present (1871,) owned by 
Charles Payne. Here he built one of the first frame 
houses of the neighborhood, a part of which is yet standing 
on its original site. Its first clapboards were rived from logs, 
and its timbers were all hewn even to the rafters. Near 
this house ran the Indian trail from the Susquehanna to 
Stockbridge, and the Indians were frequent guests of the 
Morse family. Here he lived until 1802, when he removed 
to the present location of the family homestead in Eaton 
village. 

Samuel Sinclair purchased the farm that Col. Leland 
first took up, on lot No. 94. Here Sinclair kept tavern, as 
his predecessor had done. As a landlord, Sinclair had his 
own way of dealing with a certain class of customers who 
were then quite frequent. These were wont to drive under 



EATON, 287 

Sinclair's open shed and feed their horses upon their own 
hay and grain, which they had brought along, and sit by 
his cozy fires to eat the lunch they carried in their own 
wallets. As a consequence, Mr. Sinclair did not keep his 
shed in good repair. One day a traveler of this class com- 
plained of the uncomfortable shed and of the poor fire, and 
had the impudence to do this when he had not expended 
one penny for the benefit of the house, Sinclair very cooly 
responded by saying, "Sir, you furnished your own feed for 
your horse, and your own dinner ; the next time you come 
this way I advise you to bring your own fires and horse- 
shed !" Sinclair lived in this town many years, and was 
widely known and popular as a landlord in this and other 
towns. Lewis Wilson located in the vicinity of Eaton village. 
The marriage of Lewis Wilson and Dorcas Gillett, which 
took place in 1796, was the first marriage in town. Hum- 
phrey Palmer located at the Center, making the first inroads 
upon the wilderness in that section. His son, John Palmer, 
who came with his father, remained on the homestead to 
the close of his life in "1867. He was aged 90 years. 

In 1797, came Rawson Harmon, Rufus Eldred, Cyrus 
Finney, Thomas Morris, Dr. James Pratt, and soon after, 
Benjamin Coman, William Mills, John Pratt, Lorin Pearse, 
Caleb Dunbar, Isaac Sage, William Hopkins, Seth Snow, 
Elijah Hayden, Daniel Hatch, David Gaston, and Con- 
standt, Robert and Cyrus Avery. Hezekiah Morse, Joseph 
French, Abiather Gates and a Mr, Patterson, also came 
early. Rawson Harmon, Rufus Eldred and Cyrus Finney, 
settled near Eaton village. Thomas Morris (brother of J. 
Hall Morris and Benjamin Morris,) located in Morrisville. 
He purchased the present village site, and being a man of 
enterprise and the possessor of wealth, soon had the forest 
cleared away and a fine wheat field growing about him. 
He invited settlement, and in due time a village grew up, 
which, in honor of him as its founder, was named "Morris- 
ville." 



288 MADISON COUNTY, 

Dr. James Pratt was the first physician of the town. 
Also, in the winter of 1797 and '98, he taught the first 
school kept in the town of Eaton — the first month at the 
house of Joseph Morse, on the Hamilton read ; the second 
at the house of Joshua Leiand, at the lakes ; and the third 
at the house of Thomas Morris, at " Morris Flats," as the 
place was then called. The scholars boarded at the places 
where school was kept. Dr. Pratt was prominent as a phy- 
sician and was an influential citizen. Dr. Jonathan Pratt, 
an early physician of Madison, and Dr. Daniel Pratt, of 
Perryville, were his brothers ; the latter was a student with 
him at Eaton. 

Benjamin Coman located on the road laid out from Eaton 
village to Morrisville. Samuel, Winsor and Ziba Coman, 
his brothers, came and settled near him at a little later date. 
Winsor Coman was for some years a Justice of the Peace, in 
which capacity he was highly popular, being eminently a 
peace maker. He was also Supervisor several years, and 
was member of the Legislature for. 18 14 and '15. It has 
been remarked that " Squire Coman had no enemies."* 

John and Matthew Pratt located at " Pratt's Hollow." 
Further mention is made of these men, elsewhere. Loren 
Pearse and Caleb Dunbar located at the northeast of Eaton 
village. These men spent the remainder of their years in 
town, living to a good old age ; they were substantial 
farmers and good citizens. Thaxter Dunbar is a son of 
Caleb Dunbar. Mr. Pearse left a large family. Alvin 
Pearse (or " Pierce ") lives on the homestead. 

William Hopkins settled in the west part of the town, on 
the old State road (the earliest laid out through this sec- 
tion,) near the old burying ground. He cleared away the 
wilderness, and with the aid of his sons, converted the land 

*The following, on the death of Stephen Coman, one of this family, is from the 
Madison Observer: " Dea. Stephen Coman, who died at his residence one mile 
south of Morrisville, (in Jan. 7, 1870,) was one of the oldest native born citizens 
of this town, having resided for nearly seventy years o» or near the premises where 
he died. He was one of the most substantial and respected of our townsmen, en- 
joying during a long life the confidence and esteem of the entire community." 



EATON. 289 

i-.to an excellent farm, upon which he resided until his 
death at an extremely advanced age. Several of his large 
family are yet living. Anthony, Isaac, Palmer and Harlow 
Hopkins, his sons, residents of West Eaton and vicinity, 
are men of business and of good standing in that section. 
We also name Daniel Hopkins, a cousin of William, in this 
connection, although he was a settler of Nelson, his farm 
being just over the town line west of the reservoir. His 
sons, Benjamin, Alonzo and Lucius are well known and re- 
spected citizens of this town. Harvey Hopkins, another 
son, went to Louisiana. On the breaking out of the war of 
the rebellion, being loyal to the old flag, though a slave- 
holder, he was obliged to leave the rebellious States. He 
returned there after the close of the war and is since de- 
ceased. One of the daughters of Daniel Hopkins, Mrs. 
William Parker, remains a resident of Pierceville. Harvey 
Hopkins of Morrisville, lawyer and inventor,* is a grandson 
of Daniel and son of Benjamin. 

Seth Snow came from Bridgewater, Mass. He cleared a 
portion of the farm now owned by William Hamilton, west 
of Eaton village, where he built a double log house, and 
when the turnpike was laid through, kept tavern for a time. 
Simeon and Eleazer Snow, his brothers, soon afterwards 
came in and commenced clearings on several different farms. 
The Elijah Morse place and Richard Waters, were lands 
bought by Simeon Snow. 

Elijah Hayden settled near the village. He was a Major 
in the war of the revolution. He is well rememberd by the 
oldest citizens as an active, genial man, always ready with 
a joke or a story of the war "that tried men's souls." 
Daniel Hatch located about a mile southeast from Eaton 
village on the Hamilton road, where he removed the 
shadows of the forest from the soil, built himself a home and 
lived many years in the enjoyment of the fruits of his labors, 

* Inventor of the "Reversible Mowing Machine" and of the new Mov.'er 
" Hopkin's Choice." 
S 



290 MADISON COUNTY. 

dying at last respected and regretted. David Gaston set- 
tled in Morrisville, where he lent his influence and a help- 
ing hand toward promoting the interests of that locality. 
He was an early County Judge and a Justice of the Peace, 
in which positions he maintained peace and good order 
within his jurisdiction, to an eminent degree, through ex- 
ample and wise counselings, as well as in dispensing justice 
officially under the statutes. He was emphatically a man 
of great and good influence. The Averys located between 
Eaton village and Morrisville ; they were prominent, influ- 
ential men. They removed from here to other localities, 
Oren S. Avery of Perryville, was one of this family. 

Thus far we have noted the locations and given brie 
notices of those named, who came in 1797 and soon after, 
as far as could be ascertained. We add further : 

Benjamin, Nathan, Elisha and Dr. Slater were settlers at 
an early day in this town. The Slaters trace their pedigree 
to the Mayflower, their ancestor being one of the memor- 
able company landed from that famed vessel upon Plymouth 
Rock. Now, the descendants are widely scattered. David 
Bennett located near Hatch's Lake, on the north side, where 
he lived to an advanced age. His large farm is now owned 
by Jeremiah Wadsworth. His son, Daniel, resides in West 
Eaton. Olney, another son, is a Baptist minister in Wis- 
consin, Abiel Payne settled early in this town, near the 
reservoir. His son, Stillman, resides on the original farm, 
his farm house standing on the spot where his father 
erected his primitive log tenement. Truman, another son, 
resides in West Eaton. 

Before the eighteenth century had closed its record, 
many settlers had forced their way in all directions through- 
out the town. The State road had led the pioneers through 
the south part of Nelson, and in different places along that 
road throuoh Eaton, they had erected their cabins. In the vi- 
cinity of West Eaton had settled Perry Burdick and Thomas 
p>y. Farther on, Dr. Abner Camp, Captain Whiton, Na- 



EATON. 



291 



than King and Samuel Lewis had located. The road from 
Madison through to Nelson Flats passed the home of the 
pioneer in other sections. It saw the opening of the forest 
at Morrisville, where Thomas Morris had located, and where 
the spirit of improvement and progress was fast transform- 
ing the wilderness into thrifty fields of grain ; where, aided 
by this man's wealth and enterprise, in time should rise the 
village bearing the name of its founder. It is, however, cer- 
tain that the first enterprises of the town sprung up in the 
vicinity of the Leland Lakes. The settlement, which had con- 
gregated here in this pretty vale, protected by the overshad- 
owing Eaton hills, and the lovely lakes, with the spreading 
valley before them, assumed some of the qualities of an auspi- 
ciously located village. The Indian trail from the Susque- 
hanna to Stockbridge, brought frequent parties of Indians ; 
the traveling accommodations and attractions of Leland's 
inn, the business of the mills before they were removed, the 
lively Indian trade in yankee notions at Gregg's store, lo- 
cated here, (the first store in town,) all certainly promised 
more than was realized ; for, on the removal of the mills to 
a more suitable and healthy location, other enterprises 
failed, and so perished even the hope of a village at this 
point. 

It was the fixed opinion of some of the settlers, after the 
town was set off, that the center of the town should be the 
central business locality. This point was, indeed, gener- 
ally regarded for a time as the place to build a village. A 
tavern was kept here a short time by Alfred Cornell, and a 
school-house, one of the earliest, was built, in which elec- 
tions and other public meetings were sometimes held ; but 
the place had no natural business facilities. On the open- 
ing of the two turnpikes, one through Morrisville, the 
other through Eaton village, business was drawn else- 
where. Travel, a considerable source of income to new 
countries, followed these newly-opened thoroughfares and 
enriched the villages along their routes, while all out-of-the- 



292 



MADISON COUNTY, 



way settlements lost caste as well as trade, and diminished ; 
and so, before the project of building up the center had 
fairly taken form or shape, it was of necessity yielded. 

In 1800, Joseph Morse, finding an excellent mill site on 
Eaton Brook, as it came swiftly down its deep vale from the 
westward, saw that there was a fine chance open for the 
exercise of his enterprising nature, and he resolved to im- 
prove it. He employed Mr. Theodore Burr, who was 
widely known in those days as a bridge builder and mill- 
wright of the first order, to build his mill for twelve hun- 
dred dollars. There was then great difficulty in obtaining 
mill-stones ; so a large boulder was dug from the earth, 
and was being wrought into shape, when it was discovered 
to possess a flaw, which rendered it unfit for use. It was 
consequently abandoned, and another and more perfect 
stone was found, which, after being fashioned quite artis- 
tically into the desired shape, went into the mill and did 
good service for many years. The rejected stone may be 
seen in a stone wall, on the farm of Geo. Cramphin, south 
of Eaton village, an object of interest to those who would 
not forget the inconveniences to which the early settlers 
were subjected. Subsequently this mill was furnished with 
the mill-stones brought by Col. John Lincklaen from Ger- 
many, from whom Mr. Morse obtained them. Members of 
the Morse family still own this mill, or one situated on the 
same site. In 1802, Mr. Morse removed to "the present 
locality of the Morse homestead in Eaton Village, near his 
mill site, and there increased the capacity of his water 
power for both saw mill and grist mill, and also built up 
other works. He purchased considerable land in the 
vicinity of his mills, which embraced much of the present 
village. At this time settlements were increasing rapidly 
in the country round about. But West Eaton was yet a 
forest, with the new State road passing through. 

D:. Abner Camp located on the new road just men- 
tioned, to the westward of William Hopkins, just over the 



EATON, 293 

town line. His farm is now owned by Lucius Hopkins. 
His place was called " Camp's Hill." Dr. Camp was so 
widely known through all this region, that the lake in his 
vicinity, (Hatch's Lake,) was first and for a long time known 
by the name of " Camp's Pond." This beautiful sheet of 
water in the southwest corner of Eaton was a favorite resort 
of the Indians until a late day. The earliest settlers in that 
vicinity relate many incidents descriptive of their manners 
and customs. 

At one period, as many as forty families of aborigines 
dwelt in the neighborhood of the lake and swamp. A 
friendly feeling was readily established between themselves 
and the white people, in whose houses they made themselves 
at home, entering at any and all times unannounced ; for if 
the latch-string hung out, the unrestrained barbarian drew it, 
and unbidden silently walked in ; or, if he so desired, would 
move the door slightly ajar and peer in upon the occupants, 
or would perhaps appear suddenly at the window. 

Dr. Camp was annoyed by their freedom, and on one oc- 
casion severely reprimanded and forbade them these liber- 
ties on his premises. Regardless of his wishes, they still 
continued to annoy him, when he declared he should raise 
a company and drive them from the locality. To this they 
responded by threats of a similar nature, saying they could 
raise forty men. In a few days Dr. Camp discovered seve- 
ral of their number painted savagely, and decking them- 
selves in battle toilet. He immediately gathered a few of 
his neighbors, who, with their muskets, crept near the In- 
dians place of concealment. When well situated with his 
men, Dr. Camp fired his piece at a tree, at the foot of which 
sat an old Indian, who, amidst the falling bark and splinters 
scattered by the ball, sprang up in affright to hear the shout 
of command from the Doctor, " Come on, boys ! we've got 
them !" and in double quick time the party of warlike In- 
dians disappeared in the forest. For a few days thereafter 
they were unusually quiet, and finally laid by their hostile 



294 



MADISON COUNTY. 



appearance altogether and became more civil neighbors. 
Dr. Camp used frequently to rehearse, with great enjoy- 
ment, this adventure, in which he frightened a band of In- 
dians with his company of three men. 

It is related that oftentimes at evening, in fair weather, 
their village of wigwams presented the appearance of rustic 
simplicity and comparative content, as the women were 
seen bustling about, broiling fish or game over a large camp 
fire, the men, who had hunted or fished all day, reclining at 
their ease, the children playing peaceably. As each morsel 
of food was cooked, it was given first to one then to another 
till all were satisfied. Nature's demands appeased, these 
hardy children of the woods stretched themselves upon the 
earth, each wrapped in his own blanket, and slept a sleep far 
sweeter than if in palace chambers. Harmony and content- 
ment, however, did not always fall to their lot, for under the 
influence of the white man's "fire water," they had frequent 
and fierce quarrels. This curse, brought with civilization, 
was fast doing for them a terrible work of debasement and 
destruction. 

Mr. Oliver Wescott, who has lived near the lake since 
early in the century, relates many incidents concerning the 
Indians and* their wild habits, which go to show that they 
were numerous and quite at home here at one time. 

Peter Hatch settled in i8 — , at the southwest corner of 
the lake now and for so long bearing his name. He built 
the house in which his widow now resides, with her son, 
Harrison Hatch. Joseph and Hezekiah Morse, and 
Rufus Eldred, associated with him, built a saw mill here 
at the outlet of the lake. In time, Peter Hatch purchased 
the shares of his associates, and thus became for a period the 
owner of one of the best mills in the country, it being an 
excellent water power while the natural outlet was allowed 
to flow, and until the lake became, as we have seen, a canal 
feeder. The dry channel, passing near Mr. Hatch's house, 
is not yet obliterated by the husbandman, as has been many 



EATON. 295 

another old landmark bearing a time-engraven record of 
its own history and of the dim centuries gone by. 

The following incident of the lake neighborhood, still fresh 
in the memory of many, is related to us : — Many years ago, 
two young children of Oliver Wescott — Elizabeth and Ste- 
phen — were playing upon the shore of the inlet near their 
father's house, when they conceived the idea of taking a 
ride upon the lake in their mother's wash-tub, which stood 
near by. Launching their improvised boat upon the water, 
the two got in, and instinctively, or by chance, seated them- 
selves on opposite sides, which just balanced the craft. A 
breeze was blowing, and, aided by the paddle of a little 
hand on either side, they were soon out upon the waters. 
The frantic distress of the mother may be imagined, when, 
missing her children, she looked and saw, far out from the 
shore, the speck of a wash-tub and two little upright heads 
above its rim, the wee excursionists, of course, as uncon- 
cerned as if rocking in a cradle on the floor of their 
mother's kitchen. The lake is more than half a mile wide 
at the point where the tiny voyagers embarked, and they 
were far towards the opposite shore, whence they were 
drifting fast, when discovered. Here was opportunity for a 
scene and a tragedy ; but the discretion of the mother bade 
her avoid attracting the attention of the children, lest they 
should make some movement to lose their balance ; instead, 
she made her way swiftly through brush and briers, around 
the west end of the lake, (where the stage road now runs,) 
and reached a point near the present residence of Mr. Mann, 
in time to receive her truants all unharmed ! Since they 
were safe, she — no doubt with all motherly tenderness, as 
that was her nature — administered a timely lesson of warn- 
ing against all future temptations and attractions that the 
water might hold forth. The boy Stephen, however, was 
never cured of his love for adventure upon the " deep," and 
at the age of fifteen went to sea. Since that time he has 
sailed in nearly every quarter of the globe ; and now, in 



296 MADISON COUNTY, 

middle age, he is a denizen of the southern hemisphere, 
spending much of his time in the Sandwich Islands. His 
letters home tell of his marriage in Honolulu, to a Hawaiian, 
Lillian, the adopted daughter of King Kamahamaha HI., a 
devoted Christian girl. She died recently. The little girl, 
Elizabeth, is now the wife of Mr. Henry Patridge, and re- 
sides in view of the lake, which sometimes reminds her of 
the perilous adventure of her early childhood. 

Capt. Whiton, from Massachusetts, also settled in the 
neighborhood of the lake. He was a captain in the war of 
the revolution, and was a brother of Gen. Joseph Whiton, 
well spoken of in the history of that war. David Bennett, 
David Mentor, Nathan King and Samuel Lewis were other 
settlers in the same vicinity. Many members of the Ben- 
nett family are still residents of this town and Lebanon. 
They are respectable and substantial farmers. 

Miles Standish took up the farm now owned by Adin Brown, 
and lived there many years. He was an energetic business 
man. He invested in the new turnpike, and built and first 
kept the old turnpike gate, which stood opposite Alderbrook 
grist mill. Mr. Standish was a lineal descendant of his il- 
lustrious namesake, the Miles Standish of Mayflower and Pu- 
ritan memory, one of the most distinguished of the colonists 
who landed upon Plymouth Rock in 1620. Seth Hitchcock 
was another settler who lived near Mr. Standish. Thomas 
Wilkie took up the lot which is now the homestead of How- 
ard Leach. Nathan Bassett, Solomon Shaw, Nathaniel 
Wilmouth and John Murdock, settled on land in the vicinity 
and south of Pierceville. The four last named were gone 
years ago. Nathaniel Wilmouth died here. Murdock took 
up the land known as the " old Curry farm." He lived at 
one time in a log house 'very near where the Pierceville 
school house now stands, and in that locality made wrought 
nails for all the settlers round about. A few of the settlers 
on the north border of Lebanon considered themselves as 
belonging to the neighborhood, including those last named. 



EATON. 297 

These were Lent Bradley, a Mr. Bingham, Richard Taylor 
and Deacon Webster. The Deacon said that the first 
wagon that entered the town of Lebanon, he drove through 
this neighborhood, then an entire wilderness, save the small 
clearings around the settlers' houses. David Moreton, from 
New Bedford, Conn., came in the year 1802, and settled on 
the farm now owned by his son, Seth Moreton. From the 
trees of his forest-covered lot he built his log house, in 
which he lived till 18 17, when he built his frame house, — 
at that day one of the best in the vicinity — which is still 
standing near Mr. Moreton's present residence. 

Thus far in these annals, it will be seen that the early 
part of this century was marked by the inflow of a host of 
families, who reared and (many of them) established their 
children, and who have, as it were, determined the charac- 
ter and status of the town. In passing, the facts have 
enabled us to delineate the advance pioneer, the man whose 
ambition is to strike the first blow ; who glories in wres- 
tling with discomfort and privations ; who eats his coarse 
fare with a keener relish because he has to battle fiercely 
to obtain it ; who sleeps a sweeter sleep when nature pre- 
sents a comfortless couch ; who rises in his strength, because 
his strength is opposed and does not remain to enjoy nature 
in her tame submission, for in that case he could not enjoy ; 
if there is no longer an object on which to spend his force, 
he pines, sinks into obscurity, or moves on to fresh scenes 
of conquest. Such was the nature of some whose names 
we have given, and doubtless of many whose names we 
have not been able to obtain, who passed along, leaving a 
fair opening for the permanent settler. 

Many inhabitants who came in and settled where the vil- 
lages grew up, are mentioned in connection with a sketch of 
those villages. Many others settled in various sections at 
later periods, whose families are still with us. The names 
immediately following will be recognized by many. 

David Darrow came from New Lebanon, N. Y., in 1 806, 



298 MADISON COUNTY. 

and took up a lot south of West Eaton village, now owned 
by his son, J. J, Darrow. He removed his family here in 
1808. Mr, Darrow also took up or purchased several farms 
around him, one of which he sold to Ephraim Leach who 
incorporated it in his homestead farm. The same is now a 
part of the farm of Marshall Tayntor. To the northward, 
Mr, Darrow's land extended so far as to embraced a con- 
siderable portion of West Eaton village. Much of this he 
divided among his children, making them — what they are 
now — quite extensive farmers. 

Joseph Enos, a native of New Lebanon, N. Y., came also 
in 1806, and located on a farm adjoining David Darrow on 
the east. The old road passing from Pierceville across 
" half moon bridge," at the head of the factory pond, passed 
by the doors of Mr, Darrow and Mr. Enos. The old 
orchard of the Enos farm has still a few trees left to indi- 
cate its location. Mr. Enos afterwards removed to Eaton 
village, where he lived till 183 1, when he changed his 
residence to Allegany County. He held town offices and 
was a very popular man. Among the Masons he is reputed 
to have been a member of great influence and thoroughly 
versed in masonic knowledge. Possessing most courteous 
and agreeable manners, he won his way wherever he went, 
David Enos, a brother of Joseph, yet resides at West Eaton. 

Jacob Tuckerman came about 1808, and located in the 
west part of the town. He subsequently removed to 
Eaton village. His sons settled in this town. They were 
independent, substantial farmers. 

Backus Leach came to this town from Bridgewaten 
Mass., in 18 12. He purchased a large farm on lot No. 97, 
which, by hardy energy and perseverance, he succeeded in 
making one of the noblest in this section. Near his 
dwelling stood an ancient landmark, a large elm tree, which 
for its size, beauty and apparent great age, attracted the 
attention of all passers by. In 1866, after the death of 
Mr. Leach, this noble tree was blown down. Mr. Leach 



EATON. 299 

died in 1864, at the ripe age of 82 years, while in posses- 
sion of uncommonly well preserved bodily and mental 
activity. His son, Howard H. Leach, succeeded to the 
spacious home farm. 

Ephraim Leach, brother to Backus, came here in 18 18, 
and settled on a farm adjoining his brother. For this farm 
he paid sixteen dollars per acre in eagles and half eagles. 
He is still living, with his son Lewis, on a part of the 
same farm, at the great age of 93 years, having been 
born in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Mass., April 2 2d, 
1779. He is still blessed with a remarkably good memory. 

George H. Andrews came from Windsor, Conn., about 
1808, and was a resident of the same neighborhood. He 
was well known as a journeyman shoemaker in the early 
days. He resided in this town till his death, which occurred 
in -1 870, at the home of his youngest son, George Andrews, 
in Pierceville, He reached the advanced age of ^y years. 

Joseph Tayntor, we also notice here, as his sons and 
daughters have mostly settled in this town, and have 
been closely identified with this section of the country, 
and constitute an important and influential portion of com- 
munity. Joseph Tayntor located in the town of Lebanon, 
just beyond the south line of Eaton, in the year 1808. He 
reared his family on the same farm he himself wrested 
from the heavy forest, and on this farm he died in 1847, at 
the age of 73 years. (Note/) 

A few settlers located at Eaton village soon after Mr. 
Morse built his mill. Nicholas Byer, a blacksmith, was 
one of the first. His father, who lived here also, was one 
of Burgoyne's Hessians in the time of the revolution. This 
fact was noted by the revolutionary patriots who were his 
neighbors. Another of these settlers, following the building 
of the mill, was Elisha Willis, one of the best of shoe- 
makers. 

In 1806, Eaton village had less than half a dozen houses, 
of logs, nevertheless it boasted of being one of the cities of 



300 MADISON COUNTY. 

the new country. The manner of its christening has been 
related as follows : 

A stranger who had traveled hither, and was generously 
entertained by the hospitable people, was found to be the 
prince of good fellows and withal a wag. In the midst of 
their jollification, he took a flask of "good cheer," ascended 
one of the low roofed log buildings, and in the presence of 
a group of admiring comrades, delivered a short and witty 
harangue, flourished his bottle, and drank to the health of 
" Log City," which was answered by the waving of hats and 
three rousing cheers. The spirit of the occasion lingered 
in the feelings and was carried home by each on^ present, 
and he in turn retailed the good joke perpetrated on the 
settlement, to his neighbor. The story grew in importance, 
was passed from mouth to mouth, till the name of Log City, 
one of the chief stopping places on the Skaneateles turn- 
pike, became familiar as a household word from the eastern 
to the western limits of New York State ; thenceforward 
for the next fifty years, the name became a fixture, and it re- 
quired no small amount of diligence, for the present genera- 
tion to let fall the cognomen and assume the more eupho- 
nious title of Eaton village. 

When the town had been progressing in settlement ten 
years, the taxes were but $400. In 18 12 or 18 14, it had 
from $ 1 ,200 to $ 1 ,400 of surplus money above expenses. In 
1 87 1, the taxes of Eaton aggregated $21,869. 

In 1802, the first tavern in " Log City" was built by Isaac 
Sage. It was located on the east side of the road going to 
Lebanon, on the corner, and opposite the present site of the 
Exchange Hotel. This old tavern is still standing, a relic 
of the past. At the time it was built it was reckoned a fine 
large house. In one part of this town, Robert and William 
Henry commenced keeping store in 1805, and continued 
for some time. Rufus Eldred kept store across the street, 
near the Exchange location. After a time the Henrys 
moved across into the store they had there built. 



EATON. 301 

In 1804, the first distillery of the place was built by Ru- 
fus and Zenas Eldred, on the site where Ellis Morse, years 
after, run a large distillery. 

The Mrs. Maydole house, on the west corner, opposite 
Sage's hotel, was also very early built ; it is still a good res- 
idence. 

Samuel Chubbuck, who came to Eaton about 1 807 or 1 808, 
built a frame house on the present location of the lower, 
or eastern hotel. There was then one log house where now 
stands the Baptist parsonage, another near the house of 
Mrs. John Whitney, (known as the " Sherman house") and 
another near the pleasant residence formerly known as the 
" Ellis house." 

The first carding machine in this part of the country was 
built on the creek, where the woolen mill afterwards stood, 
by Hezekiah Morse and Rufus Eldred, in the year 1806. 
They soon added clothier works, and in due time increased 
their business by the addition of a " spinning-jenny " and 
looms. In 1833, the establishment was rebuilt of stone by 
Alpha Morse and Clement Leach, who had purchased it. 
They filled it with two sets of machinery for woolen goods 
and did much business for several years. It has passed 
through the hands of several different firms since ; was ope- 
rated as a stocking factory during the war of the rebellion 
by the Lewis Brothers, and was last used as a woolen factqiy 
by Smith O'Brien. It has been damaged by fire once and 
rebuilt. At present it is owned by O. A. Medbury, who 
has converted it into a cabinet manufactory. 

Mr. B. Carter built the first tannery of Eaton village, and 
operated it for a time, as early as 1808. It was situated 
contiguous to the Maydole house. Several years after, it 
was carried on by Milmine & Ward. 

After the Skaneateles turnpike went through, there was 
need of better tavern accommodations; Mr. Samuel Stow, 
-therefore, built and kept a tavern on the corner opposite the 
lower hotel. Samuel Chubbuck, living opposite to him. 



302 MADISON COUNTV. 

carried on a blacksmith shop. These two men had by some 
disa2;reement become violently opposed to each other. In 
a spirit of competition, Mr. Chubbuck erected another tav- 
ern opposite Stow's. Chubbuck was a staunch Democrat, 
and this was a time soon after the war of 1812 ; so upon 
one side of his attractive sign board was displayed the dying 
words of Commodore Lawrence, as a motto, — " Don't give 
up the Ship !" — and on the other, " Free Trade and Sailor's 
Rights !" Mr. Stow immediately erected another black- 
smith shop to match Chubbuck's, which stood very near 
where Coman's store is, and swung out his sign directly op- 
posite to Chubbuck bearing these words: " Don't give up 
the Shop !" and on the reverse side, " Free Trade and Me- 
chanic's Rights !" — alluding to his neighbor's giving up 
blacksmithing for tavern keeping. Those unique signs hung 
out for many a year. The Chubbuck hotel is the present 
lower house. 

The first school house in Log City was located on the 
ground which is now the cemetery. This building was 
burned. The next school was held in a house farther east 
on the Hamilton road. The late Rev. Charles Finney, of 
Oberlin College and revivalist fame, was a pupil at this 
school, and as a leader in all school boy sport, he is well re- 
membered. He was a nephew of Dea. Finney, with whom 
he lived in his boyhood. The old brick school house was 
built in 1808, and it stood on the site of the house of Ellis 
Coman. This was one of the first brick buildings erected in 
Madison County ; it was a well built two story house and 
was also used as a " town house." Th^re was not a hand- 
somer building in any of the villages about, and it was con- 
sidered by many a great mistake when it was removed. 
Some of the brick are in the blacksmith shop of Mr. Win- 
chester. 

Squire Rufus Eldred, who lived at Eaton village several 
years, was one of the men of the times of whom the town 
was justly proud. There is an incident related, which, 



EATON. 303 

while it illustrates an old time custom, gives us an insight 
into his character and an idea of his influence : Major 
Elijah Hayden, one of the early settlers, for some slight mis- 
demeanor, was once arrested by an aspiring young officer, 
who put him in the stocks, the only instance in which this 
then legal punishment was ever inflicted in this region. 
Squire Eldred happening to pass by at the time discovered 
Maj. Hayden thus confined, and demanded of the young 
oflicer what authority he had for punishing a soldier of the 
revolution in that degrading manner. The officer produced 
perfectly legal authority for so doing, but Squire Eldred 
commanded his immediate release, legal or not legal. 
Suffice it to say that the Major was released forthwith, and 
this barbarous penalty was never afterwards enforced in this 
community. 

Dr. James Pratt was succeeded in the medical profession 
here by Dr. Charles W. Hull, who was a prominent physi- 
cian in this locality many years. Dr. Pratt, Joseph Enos, 
Rufus and Zenas Eldred, Dr. Charles and Andrew Hull, the 
Comans, the Morses (note^,) and a few others, were the lead- 
ing spirits here of the first quarter century. They encouraged 
and assisted every enterprise and enlisted themselves in 
very many. Some of these men belonged to the old Ma- 
sonic Lodge, No. 121, which was removed from Hamilton to 
Eaton in 18 17. The Masons owned a superbly fitted up 
hall adjoining Samuel Stow's tavern ; they built this at their 
own expense at the time of the tavern addition. The lodge 
continued its regular meetings here up to the period of its 
dissolution in 1827. 

One individual, whose name is associated largely with the 

enterprises of Eaton village, in the half century past, was 

Ellis Morse, whose death transpired October 28, 1869. The 

" Madison Observer " thus speaks of him : — 

" Death of Ellis Morse, Esq. — We record to-day the de- 
cease of this well-known and highly-esteemed citizen, almost 
the last survivor of the early settlers of this town. In 1796, 
when a lad of seven years, he emigrated to this town from 



304 



MADISON COUNTY. 



Sherburne, Mass., with his father, the late Joseph Morse, Esq., 
locating on the place known as the Burchard farm, at pre- 
sent owned by Charles Payne, and built one of the first frame 
houses in this region, a part of which is yet standing at the foot 
of the hill, on the right of the road leading from Eaton to Ham- 
ilton. Near this house ran the Indian trail from the Susque- 
hanna to Stockbridge, and the Indians were frequent guests. 
In 1802, four years before the town of Eaton was set off from 
Hamilton, his father removed to the present location of the 
family homestead at Eaton village, where he erected one of the 
first grist mills this side of Whitestown. Here Mr. Morse began 
his long and active career, laying the foundation of his after suc- 
cess in life ; beside the hopper by day, and the firelight by 
night, with brief intervals of school tuition in winter season, he 
diligently studied the only books of the times within his reach, 
such as Dilworth's Spelling-Book, DaboU's Arithmetic, the 
Columbian Orator and the Bible. At this time the only school 
in the town was kept by the late Dr. James Pratt, and held suc- 
cesssive months at different places in the town, one of which 
was his father's residence, the scholars boarding meantime at 
the place where the school was kept During his long and 
active life the deceased was widely and honorably known in 
business circles, where his correct and methodical habits and 
strict integrity gave him deservedly great influence. He was 
early engaged with his father in buying and selling cattle, thus 
furnished the early settlers with money at a time when it was 
remarkably scarce and greatly needed. Subsequently he was 
largely engaged in the building of roads for the new country, 
one of which was the Hamilton and Skaneateles Turnpike. 
Mr. Morse was a person of modest and retiring disposition, yet 
his sterling qualities frequently placed him in important public 
stations. For several years he was an influential member of 
the Board of Supervisors, and part of the time its Chairman. 
It is a singular coincidence that his father, in 18 17, was 
one of the commissioners appointed to superintend the erection 
of the first Court House built here ; that thirty years afterwards 
the deceased was chosen to superintend the building of the 
second Court House ; and that nearly twenty years subse- 
quently his son (George E.) was also appointed to superintend 
the erection of the third and present Court House. 

" During the past few years, Mr. Morse had, to a great extent, 
withdrawn from business activities, passing the evening of his 
days among those who knew and appreciated his blameless life 
and high character. It is permitted to but few men to witness 
the wonderful changes which have occurred in the lifetime of the 
deceased. The dense forest, over which the curling smoke of 
the Indian wigwam was to his youthful eyes a familiar scene, 



EATON. 305 

has given place to well-cultivated fields and a prosperous popu- 
lation, along whose hills and valleys the trailing smoke of the 
first locomotive is to-day the harbinger of far greater changes 
than were witnessed even in the eventful lifetime of our departed 
townsman." 



The " Eaton Woolen Manufacturing Company " was 
formed about 18 16. Joseph Morse, Hezekiah Morse, 
James Cooledge, sen., Benjamin Brown, Samuel Stow, Cur- 
tis Hoppin and Dr. James Pratt, were members of this 
company. They built a factory east of Eaton village, on the 
Chenango, in 1816 or '17. After being run by the com- 
pany for a time, it was leased to Gilbert Jones for a term of 
years, who manufactured woolen goods. He failed when it 
was leased to David Rogers, and for a time manufactured 
cotton goods. At one time both cotton and woolen goods 
were made at this factory. Homer Pratt, son of Dr. James 
Pratt, run the establishment a few years, but, about 1828, 
failed. For a time after this it was idle ; then was pur- 
chased by Pettis & Hoppin. This firm added to its capa-. 
cities, and built on the premises quite extensively, intend- 
ing to go heavily into the manufacture of woolen go.ods. 
They had but just completed these preparations, when, 
by an unlucky accident, the establishment took fire, and 
burned to the ground. This disaster occurred in the 
autumn of 1845. The proprietors lost heavily, and did not 
rebuild. The ruins may be seen about half a mile east of 
the village. There was a fine boarding-house and a store 
kept by the company. The excellent farm house belonging 
to Mr. Joseph Holton, was the residence of Mr. Pettis. 

Earlier than the building of the factory just mentioned, 
was the construction of the old powder mill, which was sit- 
uated farther south, on the Chenango. If the curious wish 
to find its site, they can take the road which crosses the 
flat eastward from Giles Clark's ; it stood on this road, on 
land now owned by John Graham ; when built, the land was 
owned by Squire Simeon Gillett. The mill was the prop- 



306 MADISON COUNTY. 

erty of James McConnell, and was built by him probably 
as early as 1806. It was finally destroyed by an explosion 
and fire, after it had been in disuse some time, from some 
powder left in the mill, in which disaster two young men, 
Samuel Washburne and Eleazer Goodrich, came near losing 
their lives. Very near here, Squire Gillett put up the grist 
mill, removed from Lelands in 1802. The mill went down 
years ago. 

About 181 7, Richard Ward built a tannery on the Eaton 
brook, in the village. Otis Hunt purchased it and for some 
number of years did a good business in that line. He sold 
to Collins & Tillinghast, after which it passed through 
several hands, then was burned, then rebuilt by Ellis Morse, 
and is now owned by Charles Fry, 

The wagon shop now owned by Charles Gilbert, was 
built by Samuel Parker. The wagon shop now owned by 
Robert Gilbert was erected for a school-house, and origi- 
nally stood east of the Baptist meeting house. As a school 
institution, this was the enterprise of a few individuals, 
prominent among whom were Alpheus Morse, Lyman 
Gardner, Calvin Morse and John M. Rockwell. The first 
teachers were Miss Gorton and Miss Terry — the latter now 
Mrs. Bacon. The school usually had three teachers ; it was 
conducted on the academic plan, and is said to have been 
the best school ever instituted in Eaton. It continued 
some five or six years. When the families to which the 
enterprise belonged, passed beyond their school days, the 
school declined and was finally given up. It was removed 
to the present location and converted into a cabinet ware 
shop, and a few years since it was changed to a wagon shop. 
The wagon shop and smithery of Mr. Booth, was built 
many years ago by Rogers & Parker. 

The Portable Steam Engine Works of Wood, Tabor & 
Morse. — Allen and Enos D. Wood, brothers, erected build- 
ings in Eaton village, for the prosecution of their business, 
in 1848. All kinds of castings, as well as fine machinery 



EATON, 



307 



for factories, were made at their foundry. For a time, the 
establishment was managed by the Woods. Subsequently, 
E. D. Wood removed to Utica, where he became one of the 
proprietors of similar works on an extensive scale, under 
the firm name of " Wood & Mann." The firm at Eaton, as 
now organized, has steadily extended their facilities and 
increased their business, greatly to the prr-sperity of the 
village. They employ about fifty men, and manufacture 
three engines per week, at an average cost of about ;^8oo 
each. Portable steam engines being their specialty of late 
years, their work has grown widely popular ; their engines 
are now distributed throughout the Union. 

Though all departments of business have contributed to 
the prosperity of Eaton village, the mercantile has been pre- 
eminent in that respect. Old residents remember the 
firm of Leach & Morse as prominent for many years ; as 
men, active in their business, and extensive in their oper- 
ations. They built the " Felton block," afterwards pur- 
chased by David Felton, where he kept store for several 
years — now the cabinet ware store of O. A. Medbury. The 
drug store, now owned by Henry Allen, was built in 18 16, 
by Dr. Charles W. and Andrew C. Hull. This is another 
of the old, substantial brick buildings of this village. In 
1 83 1, the store now conducted by the Morse Brothers, was 
built by Ellis and Alpheus Morse ; here Alpheus Morse 
was formerly a merchant. Not far from the last date, 
Coman's store was built by Sylvester Thayer, another of 
Eaton's old merchants. In 1836, the "Exchange Hotel" 
was built by Ellis and Alpheus Morse. The architect, 
Jacob Bishop, built many of the best houses of the village, 
about this time. The first landlord of the " Exchange " was 
Cyrus Allen. The Baptist church, on Main street, was 
erected in 1820 ; the Presbyterian, on Church street, in 
1833 ; the Methodist, not till 1856. The Union school 
house, a fine looking building, with spacious lawn and 
shade trees in front, situated on Church street, is also of 



3o8 MADISON COUNTY. 

recent build. The store now occupied by H. C. Palmer, on 
Main street, was built by Mrs. Maydole in 1870. 

Madison County Poor House, situated a short distance 
south of Eaton village, was built in 1828. Attached to it 
is a farm of 159 acres, which is well improved and furnished 
with good farm buildings ; it is a source of considerable 
revenue toward the support of the poor at the institution. 
The accommodations here for this class of unfortunates, 
have been from time to time added to and improved ; there 
are now three two-story stone buildings devoted to their 
use and care ; — the Poor House proper, a lunatic asylum, 
and a hospital. Within three years past the county 
authorities have greatly improved the sanitary condition of 
the insane asylum, have added facilities for the greater 
comfort of those in the hospital, and have bettered the 
condition of things for all other inmates. The removal of 
the children to the "Orphan's Home," in Peterboro, during 
the year 1871, has proved another beneficial measure. The 
first keeper or overseer of the Poor House was Ichabod 
Amidon, who continued several years. 



About half a mile west of Eaton village is the unused 
building and premises of the old scythe factory, which was 
started about 1830. It was for a time conducted by Gard- 
ner & Abbot. It was a substantial stone structure, having 
an excellent water power. It was a thrifty, paying concern 
for many years. Subsequently, it was converted into an ax 
factory, where the "Winchester ax " so often seen twenty 
and more years ago, was made by Samuel B. Winchester. 
Gardner Morse now owns the property. 



On the eastern outskirts of Eaton village, about half a 
m?le from the business center, is located the Eaton Depot 
of the Midland Railroad. It is conveniently reached by 
freight teams from Eaton, Pierceville and West Eaton 
villages, over smooth roads, and by hacks for passengers 
from each of these places at all train hours. 



EATON. 



309 



We append the following obituary list, the items of which 
have been omitted in their more appropriate places ; all of 
them old residents of Eaton : 

" Levi Bonney, whose location was the old Bonney Farm 
near the Depot, died in 1855, aged 80 years. Miles Standish 
died in 1819, aged 71 years; Caleb Dunbar in 1811, aged 51 
years, and his wife in 1801 ; David Hatch in 1836, aged 64 
years ; David Moreton in 1842, aged 69 years ; Samuel Chub- 
buck in 1835, aged 67 years ; John Jlubbard in 1817, aged 51 
years ; Capt. Joseph Gardner in 1829, aged 62 years ; Dr. Hull 
in 1833, aged 51 years; Dea. Cyrus Finney in 1846, aged 68 
years; Elisha Willis in 1835, aged 58 years; Loren Pierce in 
1851, aged 77 years; Col. Rockwell was killed in 1847, aged 56 
years." 

Also, we add the following note of two of the Comans, 
not given elsewhere : Samuel Coman was father to the 
wife of Rev. William Dean, many years ago the noted mis- 
sionary to China. The wik became an active missionary 
also, with her husband. Winsor Coman, another of the 
family, was a noble man and stood high in the esteem of 
his townsmen. This was a family of remarkably robust, 
active men. 

• David McCrellis settled where the brick house is situated 
on the road from Eaton village to Morrisville. Benjamin 
White located north of Log City, having a family who were 
conspicuous. One son, Rev. Ward White, was a noted min- 
ister in the Methodist denomination. 

Abiather Gates was the first settler and original owner 
of the farm on the hill, east of Morrisville, afterwards owned 
successively by Uriah Leland and Henry Runkle. Mr. 
Gates built the present dwelling house and kept it as a tav- 
ern many years, where, also, all the public meetings in that 
part of the town were held, previous to the settlement of 
Morrisville. The farm is now owned by Mr. Jones. 



MORRISVILLE. 

When Thomas Morris reached the town of Eaton in 
1796, he chose for his location the heavily timbered land 



3IO MADISON COUNTY. 

bordering the Chenango, and there afterwards founded the 
village which bore his name. He was a man of wealth, 
and encouraged all classes of mechanics ; he thus gathered 
about him the elements which go far toward establishing 
a village. It was, however, but a small, pleasantly located 
hamlet, having a church, a postoffice, two taverns, a store, 
and the usual number of mechanics, up to the period when 
the County Seat was located here, in 1817. The Cherry 
Valley Turnpike was then in its glory and the tide of travel 
made lively business for the inns. But there were active 
men in Morrisville whose influence went far towards fixing 
the permanent location of the County Seat here. John 
Farwell, Amariah Williams, Dr. Isaac Hovey, Dr. Wm. 
Pitt Cleveland, Judge Gaston and Bennett Bicknell, were 
chief in all matters that pertained to the public interest. 
The Williams, the Farwells and Tidds were early settlers, 
all of them we believe emigrants from Connecticut. The 
status of the village in 18 16, was nearly what it had been 
since its rapid progress immediately atter the Cherry Valley 
Turnpike went through ; Major Bennett Bicknell kept store 
in the building now occupied by Wm. P. Chambers ; John 
Farwell kept a hotel on the spot now occupied by the resi- 
dence of his son Thomas ; Thomas Morris lived in a small 
house where Otis P. Granger now resides, at the northeast 
corner of the road leading to Peterboro. 

In 1817, the long discussed question having been settled, 
the County Seat was removed to Morrisville. The object 
sought by Madison County in removing the Court House 
from Cazenovia which was then a most progressive village, 
was a central point. As between Smithfield and Eaton, 
both of which sought it, the decision was made in favor of 
the latter. Joseph Morse, Capt. Jackson and Squire Elisha 
Carrington, were appointed to superintend the erection of 
the new Court House, and the first court was held here 
Oct. 7th, 1817. 

Thenceforward Morrisville became the central point for 



EATON, 311 

all county organizations. From published sources, pre- 
vious to 1830, we gather statements concerning several of 
these societies. The Madison County Medical Society was 
then an organization nearly a quarter century old. 

The County Temperance Society also frequently met in 
this village. 

The Madison Colonization Society, formed about that 
period, met here frequently, and from the large hearts, the 
contagious zeal and the wise deliberations of the best men 
of the county, the public mind was moulded to receive the 
great principles of human freedom, preparing the rising gen- 
eration to decide without hesitation as to the right, when 
the crisis should arrive. 

A County Bible Society and Sunday School Union held 
their periodical meetings here. 

An organized Musical Society often convened in this 
village. 

These and other societies sprung up during the period fol- 
lowing the second decade of this century, when it seemed 
that Madison County had suddenly sprung into new life. 
Being the seat of the courts of justice, we can form but an 
imperfect idea of the scenes enacted at this secondary thea- 
tre, of a nature oftentimes wildly tragic, and again serio- 
comic, and frequently unraveling the characteristics of the 
farce. 

The execution of Abram Antone in the year 1823, was 
the last of those tragic performances, a public execution, 
given in Morrisville. 

The name of Abram Antone had become a synonym of 
all that was barbarous and terrible, and when the news 
spread abroad that he had been captured and taken to Mor- 
risville jail, the whole population of this region breathed 
more freely, for he was feared as well as hated, and when it 
was decreed that he was to be publicly executed, the people 
far and near determined to witness the horrible scene. It 
is said that " the pioneer laid down his ax, the good wife put 



^\3 MAmSO\' COUNTY. 

by her spinninjc and packeii up their rations of ginjjerbread 
and doughnvits, saddKi their horses and journeyed forty 
and fit^y miles through wilderness paths, to witness the 
tragic cUxse of a mysterious, eventful life. Hunters shoul- 
dered.! their ritles and marched to the public execution, ex- 
pectii\g they and their rifles would be of " service." for the 
tribes had threatenevl to rescue him at the latest hour. 
" Farmers let\ their autumn harvesting, yoked their oxen to 
the cart and with their numer(>us femilies proceeded to the 
exciting scene. * * Tawny forms, with their moccasins, 
wampum belts and heavy blankets, moveil sombrely aK^ut, 
many of whom shrank fearfully fu>m them." And yet An- 
tone went to his death like the stoical warrior that he was. 
He objected to the degradation of hanging and being pub- 
licly exhibited. " No good way." says he. putting his 
hands arv>und his neck, then pointing to his heart signified 
that he chose to die a nobler death. He begged to be let 
loose and give the militia an opportunity to bring him 
down like a hunted deer. Finding his appeals unheeded, 
he marched upon the scaffold with a calm and dignified 
tread, not a muscle quivering till the final pangs of death 
told that the deed was done which ushered into another 
state of existence? the soul of Abram Antone. Friday. 
Sept. 1 2th. iS-?5. closed the recorvi of public executions in 
Madison County. The gallows which closed the career of 
this notorious Indian, was erected in the open field, north 
of the arsenal, on the west side of the Peterboro road. 

Lewis Wilbur was executed in the jail at Morrisville, in 
the year iS59> for the murder of Robert Barber, in the town 
of Sullivan. In the year 1^55, John Hadcock was tried here 
for the munler of Mrs Gregg, in Stockbridg-e. and on Feb- 
nary 33, i5*54. was executed in the jaU j-ard.* 

Here many a poor man has been confined on the jail 
limits tor debt. We are gi\'en an instance of one man. who. 
coming into the new country with small means, soon ex- 



I 



EATON 3 1 3 

bausted his supply of cash, and was compelled to get in 
debt for various necessaries at a store. The debt coming 
due, there was no means wherewith to cancel it The cred- 
itor levied upon and took his household furniture and his 
only cow, notwithstanding there was a sick wife and five 
little ones who had chiefly subsisted on this cow's milk ; and 
then, the debt not being all paid, and both the law and the 
creditor inexorable, the poor man was hurried off to the jail 
at Morris ville. Kind neighbors, scarcely able to sustain 
themselves, looked after the wants of the suffering hmily. 
Like a true Yankee, however, this husband and father, *' in 
durance vile," being allowed " the freedom of the limits," 
contrived to improve the days of his terra in making bas- 
kets, the sale of which relieved some of the pressing neces- 
sities at home. T^is law, so rigorous, had received the 
condemnation of wise, reflecting men, long before it was ex- 
punged from the statute books. At last a formidable cru- 
sade was made against it ; petition after petition from all 
parts of the .State flowed in upon the Legislature — ^several 
from this county — ^but not until the year 1832, was the in- 
cubus lifted from the unfortunate poor of this common- 
wealth. 

ThLs village was the central point for great political 
meetings, and here congregated, during each exciting cam- 
paign, deputations of wide-awake political men fi-om all 
parts of the county. Exciting political ' battles have been 
fought on this ground. In the remembrance of many, there 
has been no contest more fierce than that during the anti- 
Masonic excitement, in which the Masons, under the ban- 
ner of the " Observer and Recorder," of Morrisville, and the 
anti-Masons, under that of the " Republican Monitor," of 
Ca2enovia, w^aged war throughout the contest 

We are told, that in the days of a half century past, the 
people of this country prided themselves exceedingly on 
their military displays ; that " general training " was a time 
of great interest to all On these occasions, Morrisville was- 



314 MADISON COUNTY 

alive with plumed heads, bands and bars, stars and epau- 
lettes. The evolutions of the drill were studiously and 
accurately performed, and the pomp of the parade, and the 
pleasure and exultation of the performers, was hightened by 
the presence, the smiles and admiring glances of the gentler 
sex. These often-congregating masses, for one purpose 
and another, kept Morrisville in a continuous move, keep- 
ing step with the spirit of the times. 

The village was incorporated April 13, 18 19. The first 
newspaper, the " Madison Observer," was published here 
in 1822, under the proprietorship of Rice & Hall, who had 
removed it from Cazenovia. From 1829 to 1840, there was 
great activity in trade, and mechanics and manufactures 
developed. The population of the village in 1830, was 503, 
in a town containing 3,544 inhabitants. There had been a 
small foundry built, then carried on by Sumner Whitney. 
About the same period, Jefferson Cross established his 
foundry, which has been kept in operation to the present 
time. Mr. Cross commenced making stoves at the opening 
of his business. Stoves w^ere not in general use at that day, 
and he had the pleasure and honor of introducing them into 
very many households. In the manufacture of the stove 
known as the " Great Western," he realized a handsome 
profit, in consequence of its great demand. [We risk the 
remark that, for some purposes, it is a very useful stove 
at this day.] The machine shop which Mr. Cross built 
was connected with his foundry, where he made a large va- 
riety of castings. After his death, this shop was sold, and 
the same business was carried on in the foundry. These 
works have been a source of benefit to the village, and are 
still a substantial and paying concern. George and Dwight 
Cross, sons of Jefferson Cross, succeeded to the ownership 
of . the establishment, and are the present firm. About 
1820, Nathan Shephard built a small woolen factory on the 
Chenango, at the west end of the village, which was in op- 
eration some fifteen or twenty years ; in 1 830, it was run 



EATON. 3 I 5 

by Ozias Higley. Clark Tillinghast and Perley Ayer were 
other manufacturers of that day. There were then, as we 
learn from the advertising of that period, a comb factory be- 
longing to Jonathan Gurley, also the chair making and 
cabinet rooms of Curtis Coman ; the saddle, harness and 
trunk shop of James Slocum ; the millinery shop of Miss M. 
Bicknell, and the store of B. Bicknell. There were others 
whose trade, we are to suppose, was sufficient without ad- 
vertising. There were two taverns, and the names of the 
landlords, for a series of years, are given as John Farwell, 
A. Morey, P. Hunger and Ward White. There was a dis- 
tillery which belonged to Bicknell, Norton & Palmer ; it 
ceased to be, many years ago. Bradley Tillinghast built the 
tannery somewhere about 1830. This business is still con- 
ducted by him, on an extensive plan, and by his efficient 
management has proved profitable. The grist mill was 
built by Bennett Bicknell in 1833. Stephens & Gurley built 
a silk factory on Union street, before 1840 ; the chief arti- 
cle of manufacture was sewing-silk ; they had an extensive 
commerce for a time, but the establishment remained in 
operation but a few years ; the building has been converted 
into a cheese factory. 

The educational spirit of this village was originally 
and is now, decidedly cosmopolitan. In the absence of 
literar}'- institutions corresponding with those planted in 
other villages, it was the aim here to educate the mass in 
the more common and useful fields of learning, and to a 
higher state of perfection than could result in common 
schools. Select schools were held season after season on 
the most advantageous terms for pupils, in which the com- 
mon English branches were taught for $2 per quarter, and 
Algebra, Geometry, Natural Philosophy and Rhetoric, for 
33 per quarter ; and board could be had for $1,25 per week. 
In 1 83 1, an Academy was built, which stood on the location 
of the present Union School house ; it was a fine three- 
story building. Its first Principal was Eli Burchard, of 



3l6 MADISON COUNTY. 

Marshall, Oneida County ; its first board of trustees, O. P. 
Granger, B. Coman, J, F. Chamberlin, W. T. Curtis, E. 
Holmes, B. Bicknell, M. Leland, A. Williams, J. Payne, C. 
Tillinghast, J. W. Avery, A. Cornell and J. G. Curtis. 

The N. Y. State Gazetteer of 1842, gives Morrisville 130 
dwelling houses and 700 inhabitants. The County build- 
ings were " composed of a Court House, County Clerk's 
Office and a Jail, very pleasantly situated ; an incorporated 
Academy, three Churches, — the Presbyterian, Baptist and 
Methodist ; — a printing office, silk factory, distillery, tannery, 
woolen factory, iron foundry, machine shop, grist mill, saw 
mill, five stores and two taverns." 

In 1847, a new Court House was built; Ellis Morse, 
Samuel White and Oliver Pool, were the committee 
appointed to superintend its erection. This was burned in 
October 1865, during the session of Court. In 1866, it 
was rebuilt. It is a two-story wooden building, containing 
an excellent court room with gallery, jury rooms and libra- 
ry. It is pleasantly situated in a small park, fronting on 
Main street. In the park is a fountain, and reservoir 
thirty feet in diameter and seven feet deep, affording an 
abundant supply of water in case of fire. The Clerk's 
office is a small brick building, fire proof, adjacent to the 
Court House, The Jail, situated also contiguous to the 
Court House, is an old building and is soon to be super- 
seded by a new one of brick. The cell in which the 
notorious Indian murderer, Antone was confined, still bears 
the carvings he made in the curious hieroglyphics of 
savage life. Immediately after his sentence, he engraved 
upon the wall the number of moons and the number of 
sleeps to the day of his doom ; thus, here the firm hand of 
this eloquent representative oi barbarism performed its last 
work. 

In 1868, one of the three then existing hotels, the upper 
or most easterly one, was destroyed by fire. This was a 
commodious, well patronized house, and its loss has been 



EATON, 



317 



seriously felt. A company is rebuilding it the present sea- 
son (1872,) on a plan far more extensive than the former. 
On the public green, near the lower or western hotel, is 
situated another fountain ; this, with that in the Court 
House park, supplies such an abundance of water, that, for 
the future, and with her efficient corps of firemen, Morris- 
ville seems munificently provided for, in case of a repetition 
of the conflagrations she has experienced. 

About one mile south of Morrisville, near the "Center," 
was the old " Tillinghast factory." This was one of the 
first woolen factories of Madison County, built about 1822, 
by Perley Ayer. It was situated in a remarkably pictur- 
esque locality. The factory pond was a narrow body of 
water, created by damming between two perpendicular 
hills, covering some fifteen acres, and was ordinarily some 
twenty feet in depth. The plot for the factory houses, con- 
taining about twenty acres of level land, was at the foot of 
the hill and was handsomely laid out. In time this became 
the property of Clark Tillinghast, who by the means of cap- 
ital, consid'^jrably increased the business. There were seve- 
ral fine dwellings and a good boarding house, and there 
were also on the premises a saw mill and tannery. This 
fine property was damaged beyond redemption by two suc- 
cessive floods, in the autumn of 1851, in the first of which 
the water broke through the dam, carried away a part of the 
saw mill, struck a range of dwellings, broke up and carried 
away two of them, and forced the others against each other, 
nearly destroying them. The flood now turned and ad- 
vanced upon other buildings, utterly demolishing and sweep- 
ing away the dwelling house of Almon Lawrence, leaving 
not a trace of it save the submerged cellar ; his barn shared 
the same fate. The cloth lying in the dye-house was swept 
away, and several hundred sheep pelts were carried away 
from the tannery. Onward traversed the wild flood toward 
Eaton village, tearing up dams and bridges in its course 
and bearing on its bosom the spoils of the devastated fac- 



3l8 MADISON COUNTY. 

tory settlement ! Fortunately the horrors of the scene 
were not aggravated by the loss of human life ; but very 
many were stripped of the savings of their industry, and 
some 150 persons were thrown out of employment. Mr. 
Tillinghast immediately commenced repairing, when, a few 
weeks later, a second flood damaged the property still far- 
ther, so that it was never fully repaired and put in success- 
ful operation again. After years of disuse the premises 
were sold to the firm of Graham & Co., who built a machine 
shop there in 1869. 



Tlic First National Bank of Morrisville was established in 
1864, with a capital of {g 100,000. First Directors: Daniel 
Stewart, L. D. Dana, F. M. Whitman, Henry Runkle, Reu- 
ben Ilarwood, S. T. Holmes, A. M. Holmes, B. Tillinghast, 
George E. Cummings, John C. Head. First ofificers : 
Daniel Stewart, President ; A. M. Holmes, Vice President ; 
L. D. Dana, Cashier. The present officers are: Daniel 
Stewart, President ; A. M, Holmes, Vice President ; L. D. 
Dana, Cashier ; Brownell Tompkins, Teller. There has 
been but one change in the list of directors since the or- 
ganization of the bank ; that ol Charles L. Kennedy in the 
place of George E. Cummings. 

BENNETT BICKNELL. 

The Madison Observer of Sept. 21, 1841, published an 
extended notice of Mr. Bicknell's death, which occurred 
Sept. 15, 1841, in his 6ist year, from which the subjoined 
extract is made. It gives a just view of his appreciation 
by his fellow citizens : 

'.' Oar village has been smitten with no common calamity. It 
has been deprived of its head and benefactor — of one who per- 
haps more than any other man was identified with its growth 
and prosperity. Mr. Bicknell was a native of Mansfield, Conn., 
and removed to this place in 1808, when, where is now a flour- 
ishing village, there existed but a few scattered tenements of 
rude construction, and an almost unbroken primeval forest. To 
its subsequent growth and advancement he contributed in a 



EATON. 319 

great degree. We behold on every side the e^idences of his 
activity, enterprise and liberality. He gave largely, unstint- 
ingly, and bestowed his time and services freely, to wiiatever 
tended to the promotion of the welfare of the place. 

Mr. IJicknell received repeated evidences of the confidence 
of his fellow citizens. Much of his life has been spent in public 
service. In 1812 he was elected a Representative from this 
County in Assembly, and in 18 14 he was chosen State Senator 
from this then great western district. He also served in the ca- 
pacity of County Clerk for five years, at first by appointment, 
and, on the adoption of the amended constitution, by choice of 
the people. In 1836 he was elected Representative in Congress 
from this district, (the 23rd, Madison and Onondaga.) At the 
close of his term, he was strongly solicited to become a candi- 
date for re-election, but steadily declined the wishes of his 
friends, and retired from public life. 

In his private and business relations, he enjoyed a wide and 
enviable reputation, not only throughout the county, but beyond 
its limits. It was, however, as a iniblic man that he was general- 
ly known. He was from youth, thoroughly and essentially a 
democrat, and he adhered to his political faith with a constancy 
and tenacity of purpose, which could only have been the result 
of well considered and mature deliberation. His democracy 
pervaded all his public and private conduct. It was clear, steady 
and consistent. * * * * Blessed with a const itntion of 
body capable of great endurance, and which was inipairefl by 
scarcely an interval of sickness down to the day of his death, 
endowed with a vigorous mind, a sound, healthy and sagacious 
common sense, which rarely conducted him to wrong results ; 
and moreover carrying into all his pursuits an energy and 
activity which knew no repose, and an indomitable perseverance 
which never relaxed, he was enabled to etifect more in the 
moderate period allotted to him in this world, than most men 
accomplish with the longest term of human existence. * * * 
His was the generous heart and open hand for the j^oor man, as 
well as for his more fortunate neighbor; a working man himself, his 
sympathies were with the laboring classes. He lent freely of 
his means to those who were just starting in life, and a willing 
and an active hand in every public enterprise. He was a safe 
guide and counselor, and it was this trait in his character 
which acquired for him a hold upon the confidence and regard 
of his fellow citizens, which cannot be appreciated but by those 
who w tnessed it. It is in this respect that his loss is irrepara- 
ble and his decease is a blow to community. Indeed there are 
few among us of whom it may not be asked, in regard to the 
death of Mr. Bicknell, ' Who hath not lost a friend .? ' 

Let us add to the above that the private character of Mr. 



320 T^IADISON COUNTY. 

Bicknell was such as may be commended without reserv^e. It 
was unsullied even by the breath of suspicion. His inter- 
course with his fellow men in all the relations of life were 
marked by justice, propriety and benevolence. With a vigilant 
attention to his own character and rights, he blended a con- 
stant observance of the courtesies of life, and a habitual regard 
for the feelings of others. He has descended to the grave, not 
only, it is believed, with scarcely an enemy, but enjoying the un- 
qualified love of all who had the happiness to become his 
friends. * * * Long, very long, if ever will it be, before 
the breach occasioned by his loss will be repaired His funeral 
was attended by the entire population, and a large number of 
citizens from abroad. It was an immence concourse, and 
testified more eloquently than words, to the estimation in which 
the deceased was held." 



Judge Holmes. — Epenetes Holmes was born in Ame- 
nia, Dutchess County, N. Y., December ist, 1784, and in 
1795 removed with his parents to Pittstown, Rensselaer 
County, where his father pursued the hatter's trade. His 
early educational advantages were quite limited, as he never 
attended a day school after he was eleven years of age. 
During his twelfth year he had the privilege of attending an 
evening grammar school ; the residue of his education, as 
well as the earlier part of his legal studies, were prosecuted 
evenings, after the close of a good day's work. In the office 
of Hon. Herman Knickerbocker he completed his studies, 
and was admitted to the practice of law as an attorney in 
the Supreme Court, in Shaghticoke, Rensselaer County, in 
the year 1809, where he remained until March, 181 7, when 
he removed to Morrisville, Madison County. There he re- 
mained till his decease, which occurred in 1861, when in 
his 77th year. 

Judge Holmes continued the practice of law, opening a 
law office in this village, on his removal here. He received 
repeated marks of public confidence by being called to fill 
official stations. Soon after his removal here, he was ap- 
pointed Justice of the Peace ; he was subsequently, for 
several years, Clerk of the Board cf Supervisors, and for 



EATON, 321 

ten years was one of the Judges of the Court of Common 
Pleas, of this county. In all of these positions he dis- 
charged his duty faithfully, and to general satisfaction. As 
a lawyer, he won golden opinions, and great confidence was 
reposed in his ability and sound judgment as a counselor. 
He enjoyed a fame worthy of emulation. 

For many years Judge E. Holmes was an influential 
member and officer of the Congregational Church, of this 
village, until age and bodily infirmities compelled him to 
withdraw from active life. In the various social and busi- 
ness relations, he ejoyed the esteem of his fellow citizens, 
and, at the close of a long life, left behind him an irre- 
proachable name. 



Judge Gaston, as he was familiarly known, came to this 
place from New England in the year 1800, when the coun- 
try was almost an unbroken wilderness, and resided here 
from that time until his decease. In 1804, he opened the 
first store in the village, on the line of the old State Road , 
and afterwards, when the turnpike was constructed, at the 
junction of Main and Eaton streets. On the organization 
of this town, in 1807, he was chosen Town Clerk, which 
office he held for nearly twenty years ; he also represented this 
town repeatedly in the Board of Supervisors, and for many 
years discharged the duties of Justice of the Peace. Pie 
was at one time a Judge in the Court of Common Pleas. His 
ability and great probity secured him the confidence of all. 

Judge Gaston was a man of unassuming manners, and 
in all the relations of life, justly esteemed for his sound 
judgment and unbending integrity ; and we believe we can 
truly say, that it is the willing tribute of all who have known 
him during his sixty years' sojourn in our community, that 
he was emphatically the " noblest work of God " — an honest 
man. Judge David Gaston died November, i860. 



Otis P. Granger came to Morrisville fifty years ago. 
u 



322 



MADISON COUNTY. 



He was a young man of talent, and soon gained an enviable 
place in public favor. He was the first Surrogate of Madi- 
son County from the town of Eaton ; was appointed April 
13, 1827, and served thirteen years. He was one of the 
active public-spirited men of his time. Being a man of 
keen perception and ready wit, he was well calculated to 
relish the contests of the political arena of the days long 
past. Judge Granger yet resides in Morris ville, enjoying a 
hale old age. 



Lawyers. — Among the lawyers of Morrisville who have 
exerted a wide influence, and won an enviable reputation 
for success, A. Lawrence Foster deserves mention. He 
opened an office here at an early day. At first being some- 
what successful, he resolved to change his location for one 
more propitious, when an unexpected incident roused his 
energy, and he decided to remain, and at all hazards win 
himself a position. Political contests — Foster was a Whig 
— served to strengthen his indomitable will. He became 
one of the successful lawyers of his time ; was generally 
pitted against Hubbard & Stower in important cases. A. 
L. Foster was elected to Congress from the 23d Congres- 
sional District in 184 1. A. S. Sloan, formerly County Clerk 
and lawyer, studied law with Foster. Duane Brown, Esq., 
another successful lawyer of that day, succeeded Mr. Fos- 
ter. Mr. Brown was an able and popular advocate. He 
continued in business here till his death. Sidney T. 
Holmes, son of Judge Epenetes Holmes, opened an office in 
Morrisville and acquired success and a wide reputation of 
being an aNe and safe counselor. He was elected County 
Judge in 185 1, and served twelve years. He was elected to 
Congress from the 22d District in 1865. He has recently re- 
moved to Bay City, Michigan, where a new field invites him 
to continued success. Charles L. Kennedy commenced 
here as a student with Duane Brown, Esq., in 1845 ; was 
admitted to the bar in 1847, and remained in company with 



EATON. 



323 



Mr. Brown till the fall of 1849, when he went to Chitte- 
nango, having formed a co-partnership with William E. 
Lansing. He remained there till 1856, when Lansing was 
elected County Clerk, and Mr. Kennedy took charge of the 
office as Deputy. At the close of the term, 1858, Mr. Ken- 
nedy was elected County Clerk, and at the expiration of his 
term formed a co-partnership with Judge S. T. Holmes. 
In 1867, C. L. Kennedy was elected County Judge and 
Surrogate, and as an evidence of the high estimation in 
which his services were held, he was re-elected to that posi- 
tion in 1 87 1. Nathaniel Foote, Esq., has been a practicing 
lawyer since 1845, in Morrisville. He was from Chenango 
County, of the family of Footes well known in the public 
annals of that county. Alexander Cramphin, attorney and 
counselor-at-law, who was elected County Clerk in 1868, 
and Lucius P. Clark, Commissioner of Pensions, have well 
sustained law offices, and are long established in the confi- 
dence of the citizens. Several recent firms have been added 
to the ranks of the profession in Morrisville, some of them 
already winning golden opinions from their predecessors. 

WEST EATON. 

Thomas Fry, Stephen Cornell, Perry Burdick, Barry 
Carter and David Darrow, earliest located on lands 
which are now occupied by West Eaton village. 
Thomas Fry built his dwelling on the corner where is now 
the store of Smith & Bedell. David Darrow's large farm 
took in much of the site of the present village, and his farm 
house was situated very near where the road runs between 
the large house of Alvin Wadsworth and the cheese factory. 
Thomas Fry built a saw mill where stands the factory of 
Barnes, Mitchell & Howe. He, afterwards, in company 
with William Hopkins, built a grist mill on the same spot. 
The first tavern was built by Isaac Sage, very near where Mrs. 
Wellington's residence is, between her house and Richard- 
son's Hotel. Barry Carter kept tavern here after Mr. Sage, 
In the house built by Mr. Fry a Mr. Dunham kept the first 



3-M 



M.VP180N COrNTV. 



sioiw ho voociviug' his i;oods ot\ oouunission tVoiu the house 
v>t V\>ivman & Co., of Ca^onovia. This primitive store, 
which was a double house, one jxirt use«.i tor a store, the 
other for the family, would sc;uvely bear eomparison with 
the line building of its suoeessor, the Snuth ^ Reviell store, 
vet it was quite serviceable for its vlay. 

The i^kaueateles turnpike induced more rapid settlement, 
and the adjacent cx>untry was being inhabited, but years 
[Mssevi while the village wms very slowly grv>wing\ The 
pev>ple were busy clearing up their thrms. looking after the 
needs of society, nourishing their district schools and intant 
churehes. Otherwise all of men's phN-sical strength was 
employevi in re\lucing nature to a srate wherenn it would 
serve the wMuts and necessities of lite. We are scarcely 
able to understand the discomforts they e-xperienced and 
the hai\ishi^vs they endurexi. The comforts of a primitive 
schvx^l house with the first trial of a stove, was given by an 
old lady who herself has known the changes of more than 
threv score \x\vrs^ The school ^xirticularixevi wms kept west 
of this villagx^ in the year iSio. by a Mr. Hubbard. The 
district had built a new frame school house, and, as sto\-es 
wxnx^ cv>ming in fashion, they had dispensevi with the lire- 
place in building their bouse. In school meeting the merits 
of the tew* p;\tterns of stoves e-xtant were duly discussed. A 
neighboring district had uscvi what was calleii the *' porash 
kettle sto\x\" and this schvx>l meeting decided to test its 
merits. Accoaiingly a p^^rash kettle, in which the black- 
smith had constructed a door, and an outlet for pipe, was 
haulcvl to the sohov>I room, turnevi o\"er a cireular brick 
platform, and made tight around the Cvlg-e with p'.aster. 
This unique stove was tound of surticient capacity to receive 
a largv amount of fuel ; but it had not a gcxvi draft, and 
consequently three or tour hours of wintn,- weather passed 
each djiY before its massive skies became hot. and then it 
increwsed in heat to the superiati\"e degree, which was now 
as intcvlenible as the cold had Iven. Grateful indeed was 



I'.ATON. ^2^ 

ll)c chill wintry air from llic door widely thrown opf-n, lo 
the hiiniiii^ checks and achin}^ heads of schol.'irs, who, hnf. 
a few hours before had v.iinly endeavored to niiti|.'^;ite the 
ji.iins of their chilling feet. Thus the school siidcKtd 
throu^di tj)al lon^ winter, and it is inch^ed a matter of won- 
der, liow, iir)der snch untoward circumstances the children 
of that f^cncration were ahle to store aw.i.y sr) mneh .soiiik! 
ktiowh;dt^e as we see e;(etri|>lifi(;d in their later lives. We 
infer, however, that the j^oofl sense of th(;ir parents added 
and etir()in;i|M-d iin|)roveni(;n1s ;'S their rMe.'ins woidd per- 
mit ; sidlice it to s;iy that this kind of stove w.is not u'.e'l a 
second term. 

West ICaton, or " Leeville," as it was called, horn I'liilip 
J.ee, one of the early itin keep(.'rs, made hut little advar)ce 
as a villaj^e before tH^c), h.ivin^ then but a do/.en hous(-s, 
one store, a hotel, a saw mill, ^rist mill, carding and cloth 
dressing works. In the forests round about, was ^rowinf^ 
the timber, in the quarry lay the stone, anrl in widely sepa- 
rated places lay other raw material, which the future should 
bring together to build the manufacturing works, the 
churches, and the niunerous fine dwellings of this thriving 
vill.ige. Most of those twelve houses are yet standing. 

Jos(;ph Iv l);i.rrow kept the only store, in tin; house now 
belonging to Mr. hjios, near the fountain. I'hc wool card- 
ing anfl cloth dressing works were owned and operated by 
Abner Isbell, and W(.'re locnled on the site of the present. 
woolen mill of IJarnes, Mitchell & Howe. In that day of 
stage travel, the tavern was the most busy institution of the 
place. The old tavern had disappeared and a new f>ne, the 
present hotel, had been built by Major Smith, as early as 
1.S30, and was kept by Calvin Wellington, After 1H40, a 
new impulse seemed to enter every department of business. 
Joseph \i. Harrow built his house east of the L. Wellington 
store in 1842, and built this store in 1845. f" '^43> ^^1^' 
Methodist church was built. In 1H45, A. Y. .Smith built 
the hrst wofjlen faclfjry. lie commenced with two sets of 



326 MADISON COUNTY, 

woolen machinery, and a lively business was transacted for 
a time under the firm name of A. Y. Smith & Son. He 
built the present Chubbuck store, the factory boarding 
house and some of the dwellings. The mill was burred in 
1852. By assistance rendered among the citizens, Mr. 
Smith rebuilt immediately, went on with the works, but 
finally, during the financial crisis of 1857, failed. The works 
were next run by Churchill & Gilmore ; Dr. G. B. Mowrey 
became one of the firm about i860 ; for a short time it was 
under the firm name of Mowrey & Smith ; Joseph Hun- 
toon was subsequently added to the firm, and Smith with- 
drew. In 1862, while Mowrey & Huntoon were proprietors, 
the mill was again burned. They immediately rebuilt, com- 
mencing, through the assistance of the citizens, the neces- 
sary preparations the next day after the fire. In every 
respect the new factory was built on a better and more ex- 
tensive plan than the former. It was given the name of the 
" Monitor Mill." The mill continued under the firm name 
of Mowrey & Huntoon till the summer of 1871, when Mr. 
J. C. Greene entered the firm. Mr. Huntoon withdrew, 
and removed to Flint, Mich., becoming proprietor of a 
woolen mill there. The woolen mill of Mowrey, Greene & 
Co. run five sets of machinery, employing about ninety-five 
hands, and turn off 4,500 yards per week of the finest qual- 
ity of doeskins and other styles of gentlemen's dress goods. 
The " Eureka Mill," Barnes, Mitchell & Howe, present 
proprietors, was originally built on a limited scale, doing 
only carding and custom work for several years. In 
i860, Otis Barnes was proprietor. About 1862, the 
co-partnership of Barnes & French was formed. In 
1863, they built anew, their business having so increased as 
to require them to occupy both the old and the new build- 
ing. French having retired from the firm, James Mitchell 
succeeded. The firm of Barnes & Mitchell has continued, 
with the addition of H. C. Howe in 1870, up to the present 
time. They manufacture superior woolen goods, consisting 



EATON. 327 

of cassimeres, plain cloths, doeskins, flannels, such as shirt- 
ing and sheeting, &c. They run about three sets of ma- 
chinery and employ about seventy-five hands. Both the 
Monitor and Eureka mills, and also the Alderbrook woolen 
mill, manufactured " army blue " exclusively, during the war 
of the Rebellion. 

About 185 1, Asa Walden built the west tavern which is 
now used for a tenement house. The upper story is con- 
verted into the Good Templars Hall, and which is also 
used by the Free Masons, when they convene in this vil- 
lage. The store now owned by Smith & Bedell, was built 
by J. E. Darrow & Son about i860. Some two or three 
years later the store now owned by Hamilton Brothers, 
was built. They have enlarged the store considerably, at 
different times, since they commenced business. The 
Pennock store, where the drug store and shoe shop is, was 
built at a late date. The meat market was built in 1871. 

The Baptist Church was built in 1853, the new Metho- 
dist Church was built in 1869, the new parsonage in 1870. 
Within the last ten years those good buildings and fine 
residences on Main street, and those around and in the 
vicinity of the park, have been erected. The Park was 
laid out in 1870, in the south part of the village; it 
promises to be a feature of great attraction. Within two 
years, five new streets have been laid out, besides those 
around the park, and buildings are constantly being 
erected upon them. The Fountain was built in 1868. 

West Eaton now numbers four dry goods stores, viz : 
Smith & Bedell, L. Wellington, Hamilton Brothers and 
Dwight Chubbuck ; one shoe shop, a blacksmith shop, 
Hakes 81 Isbell's Express office, N. J. Miller, artist, a millin- 
ery shop, dressmaker's shop, tailor shop, meat market, 
restaurant, &c., &c., besides the hotel, the two factories, 
the two churches, public hall, and the Union School which 
employs two teachers. 

The substantial prosperity of the manufactories together 



328 MADISON COUNTY. 

with the public spirit of the leading citizens have been a 
means of progress in West Eaton. To David E. Darrow 
more than to any other individual is due recent marked 
changes and improvements. Being the owner of much 
laud in and about the village, he is, by laying out new 
streets, fast bringing it into available condition for building 
lots. To his enterprise is due the park and all the new 
streets in that vicinity. By his skillful management, and 
the co-operation of those of kindred tastes and public spirit, 
many pretty, and some elegant houses adorn those streets. 

From the location of George Andrews' residence near 
the park, a fine view is had of Eaton street bordering 
Alderbrook pond, and of this pretty sheet of water, and 
the adjacent meadows, woodland hills and ravines. From 
here you see a small knoll, up across from the bridge, at the 
head of the pond, where bushes grow around the ancient 
cellar of what was once a dwelling, last inhabited by an 
aged squaw, of whom Fanny Forester gracefully writes in 
one of her Alderbrook sketches — "Under Hill Cottage." 
This squaw bore the unpoetic name of Hannah Konkerpot. 
While she tenanted the house, it caught fire and was 
burned. After a season Hannah disappeared from this 
vicinity. She was said to be about one hundred years old. 
Across the pond from the same view, is to be seen Under 
Hill Cottage. In full view of here, three persons were 
drowned in Alberbrook pond the i8th of May 1872 ; they 
were Conrad Betz, and his daughter Fannie aged 1 1 years, 
and Miss Emogene Tousley aged 16 years. Seldom has 
any affair created so great an excitement as this, in the 
whole community, far and near. In West Eaton Cemetery 
their head stones may be seen not far from the grave of 
Willie Greene, son of J. C. Greene, who was drowned in 
the same pond one year before. 

West Eaton Lodge, No. 94, I. O. of G. T., was organized 
in 1866. To the young people of West Eaton this society 
has been of incalculable benefit. It has been remarkably 



EATON. 329 

prosperous, averaging a membership of seventy-five. To 
David M. Darrow, the Lodge accredits, in a great degree, 
the steady prosperity of the Order in this place. From 
the first, to the present, he has exercised a judicious care 
for its concerns, and a paternal interest in the young men 
connected with this institution. Others, who have belonged 
to it at different periods, have been earnest and efficient co- 
workers in redeeming the land from intemperance, and in 
keeping the young from its baneful influence. 



An old burying ground, perhaps the oldest in the town, 
is situated about a mile west of this village, on the hill. 
Here the earliest inhabitants were buried. Many are re- 
moved to the new cemetery in the village. But few stones 
are here to mark the spot where lie buried so many. 



One of the first taverns of the Skaneateles Turnpike was 
built on the road where it crossed the present location of 
the Eaton Reservoir. It was built by Solomon Stone ; 
was for many years kept by Mr. Dunham, and was known 
far and wide as the old Dunham stand. The last landlord 
was Mr. Emmons, about 1833. The land where it stood, 
together with a large piece of the farm of David Welling- 
ton, was purchased by the State for the reservoir, and when 
completed, the valley and tavern site were submerged. In 
very dry seasons the ruins of the old inn may be discovered. 
We sometimes wonder if the aqueous element has erased 
all traces of the busy life which once made vocal those 
ancient walls, or if the spirit of past scenes still clings to 
them in their submarine home. 



David Darrow, Esq., the pioneer, was father of the large 
Darrow family who are prominent in West Eaton. At the 
time of his death the subjoined sketch was published : 

One by one the last of our pioneers are moving from off the 
stage of action. Of this number was David Darrow, who died 



330 MADISON COUNTY. 

at West Eaton on the morning of Nov. 5, 1870. He was born 
in New Lebanon, Columbia County, N. Y., in the year 1782. 
Through the days of his bo3'hoocl and youth he received the 
principles, virtually, of a thorough New England training, which 
prepared him for a vigorous and self-reliant manhood ; just the 
material requisite for the pioneer. In the year 1808, having 
married, he removed with a rising family from New Lebanon 
to West Eaton. He had purposed removing hitherin 1806, and 
had entered the town and taken up a small farm, and returned 
to his family, when he was taken sick and detained for two years. 
Just here we have an instance of the moral integrity of the man. 
His doctor's bills were large, which he was unable to pay, so he 
gave his notes, and afterwards drew wheat to Albany of his own 
raising in Eaton, and with the money thus acquired, went to New 
Lebanon and redeemed his notes, principal and interest. In 
his straightened circumstances and the poverty of the new coun- 
try, it took him twelve years to accomplish this, but the notes 
which passed beyond all legal claim, with him, only insured his 
obligation. In the course of years he added to his farm in West 
Eaton, by the purchase of considerable land adjoining, and 
which embraced a goodly portion of the site upon which the vil- 
lage of West Eaton is built. Here, surrounded by his sons and 
daughters, and descendants of the fourth generation, many of 
whom are performing no unimportant part in the progress and 
achievements of the age, he has lived the wisely-spent years of 
an active, honorable life. He has witnessed remarkable 
changes such as the rising generation shall never behold. He 
has seen the majestic wilderness sweeping down to the verge of 
the now busy streets of West Eaton, covering hill and dale, 
which the hardy woodman exerted his utmost energies to sub- 
due. He has seen this forest melt away, and green fields 
and waving harvests take its place. He has seen the 
hamlet of Leeville (West Easton,) with less than a half dozen 
houses, grow to be a fine manufacturing village, busy with 
its driving wheels, its artisan shops, its mercantile and me- 
chanical establishments, and with its many homes and noble 
churches, evincing the industry, enterprise and prosperity of its 
people. In the early days of this town's history, David Dar- 
row, who, for his pure principles and upright character, had won 
the respect of the people, was often by his fellow citizens placed 
in positions of public trust, and in matters of public welfare, his 
council and co-operation were deemed essential to the success of 
any enterprise. He was early chosen Justice of the Peace, and 
in this capacity served the interests of the people many years. 
The improvement and development of the resources of the new 
country had his attention; the welfare of schools, and the fur- 
therance of education for the masses received his cordial sup- 



EATON. 331 

port ; but the interests of religion, as the basis of law and order, 
as the foundation which underlies the safety of society, and as 
the power in the world from which all blessings, temporal as 
well as spirtual, flow, this work claimed his chief energies. Him- 
self and wife were two of the seven members who composed the 
first M. E. Society of West Eaton, organized in 1841. He gave 
the land' for the site, and gave liberally in building the first 
church edifice of this village. He has stood faithfully by the 
church of his aftection, shared its many trials, and has lived to 
see it a substantial body, strong in numbers and in prosperity, 
and to see many of the vile avenues of evil overcome by its in- 
fluence. Last year, during the building of the new M. E. Church, 
his heart was in the good work, and he then gave largely of his 
means for that purpose. He lived to see its completion, and to 
see a great harvest of souls gathered into its sanctuary. It 
seems that he might, with Simeon of old, exclaim, " Lord, now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen 
thy salvation." David Darrow was buried on Sabbath, Novem- 
ber 6th ; a very large congregation attended the funeral at the M. 
E. Church, and a most impressive and instructive sermon was 
delivered by Rev. B. W. Hamilton, from Job, 14th chap., loth 
verse. 

His vi^idow, infirm and broken with years, still lingers on 
the shore of time, her serene face bearing the impress of 
tender and sacred memories, and bright with hopes of the 
better life. 

As a family, the Darrows are noted for their energy, per- 
severance and steadfast principles. Thrifty and thorough- 
going, as farmers, which they have mostly been from their 
remotest ancestry, they have acquired independence in this 
world's goods, while their honesty and inflexible principles 
have given them a high standing and influence in the com- 
munity. Religious by nature, they have shown themselves 
the friend of the church through all vicissitudes. Joseph 
and George Darrow have been conspicuous in the M. E, 
Chrch, both long time class-leaders, and J. J. Darrow, a 
leading Sunday School Superintendent. (Note h) 



Alderbrook. — About half a mile east of West Eaton is 
Alderbrook, — celebrated in the tales of" Fanny Forester," — 
the home and birthplace of the accomplished authoress, 



332 MADISON COUNTY. 

Emily Chubbuck, better known as Mrs. Emily C, Judson, 
wife of Dr. Judson, the missionary. Her grandfather, Sim- 
eon Chubbuck, came from New Bedford, N. H., in 1813, 
and, with a family of ten children, located on Lot No. TJ. 
For two years the family occupied a log tenement, and in 
18 1 5, Underbill Cottage was built. This fanciful name was 
not, however, given the dwelling until Fanny Forester her- 
self applied the sobriquet. The cottage still remains as it 
was built, fifty-seven years ago, but Alderbrook has mate- 
rially changed within the last twenty-five years. 

To-day, looking over the ground occupied by a factory, 
with its tenement houses, boarding house, and other build- 
ings connected with the works, it is difficult to imagine Al- 
derbrook as it was in the days when Fanny Forester 
indicted from here her charming sketches. From her pen, 
in her " Alderbrook Tales," we extract the following picture 
of Underbill Cottage and its surroundings, when in the 
zenith of its wild beauty : — 

" Come to Alderbrook, I say, in the spring time, for the 
crackle of the wood fire by which I am writing might be music 
which would scarce please you, and sooth to say our winter 
cheer offers little that is inviting to a pleasure seeker. It is well 
to take the turf when you reach the toll-gate at the foot of the 
hill, for the road has a beautiful green margin to it, grateful to 
feet sick of the dust of a day's ride. It is not a difficult walk to 
the top, as I well know, having climbed it a score of times every 
year. As you pass along you will find the road lined with berry 
bushes and shade trees, now (it is spring, you know,) white with 
their bride-like blossoms, and many a thick-shaded maple and 
graceful elm will wish you had waited till midsummer, when they 
might have been of service to you. Very hospitable trees are 
those about Alderbrook. 

" You are within a quarter of a mile of the village ; and now 
the fence on the left diverges from the roadside, making a pretty 
backward curve as though inviting you to follow it down the 
hill. A few steps farther, and you look down upon the coziest 
of little cottages, snuggled close in the bosom of the green slope, 
with its white walls and nice white lattice work, looking amid 
those budding vines, all folding their arms about it, like a living 
sleeper under the especial protection of Dame Nature. Do you 
feel no desire to step from the road where you stand to the tip of 



EATON. 333 

the chimney, which seems so temptingly near, and thence to 
plant your foot on the brow of the hill over the brook ? It may 
be that you are a sober-minded individual, and never had any 
break-neck propensities ; may be you never longed to lose your 
balance on the wrong side of a two-story window, or take a ride 
on a water wheel, or sail on a sheet of foam down Niagara, or 
even so much as put your fingers between the two-teethed rollers 
of a wool carder. There are people in the world so common- 
place as to have no taste for ' deeds of lofty daring.' 

" There are eglantines and roses grouped together by the win- 
dows ; and a clematis wreathes itself fold on fold, festoon above 
festoon, in wasteful luxuriance about the trellis that fences in 
the little old-fashioned portico. 

" You wonder how any horse vehicle ever gets down there, 
and may think the descent rather dangerous ; but it is accom- 
plished with perfect ease. A carriage cannot turn about, how- 
ever, and is obliged to pass up on the other side. The house is 
very low in front, and has an exceedingly timid, modest bearing, 
as is sometimes the case even with houses ; but when you see it 
from the field side, it becomes quite a different affair. The view 
from within is of fields and woodland, with now and then a glit- 
tering roof or speck of white peering through the trees between 
us and the neighboring village. The back parlor windows look 
out upon a little garden, just below it, and beyond is a beautiful 
meadow, sloping back down to the brook. From this window 
you have a view full of wild sweetness ; for nature has been 
prodigal of simple gifts here, and we have never been quite sure 
enough that art would do better for us, to venture on improve- 
ments. So the spotted lily rears its graceful stem down in the 
valley, and the gay phlox spreads out its crimson blossoms un- 
disturbed. There the wild plum blushes in autumn with its 
worthless fruit ; the wild birch looks down on the silver patches 
adorning its shaggy coat, quite unconscious of ugliness ; and the 
alders, the dear friendly alders, twist their speckled limbs into 
any shape they choose, till they reach the height that best 
pleases them, and then they droop — little brown tassels pendant 
from each tiny stem — over the bright laughter below, as though 
ready, every dissembler of them, to take an oath that they grew 
only for that worship. There are stumps a-plenty, marking 
where the forest used to be ; and growing from the decaved 
roots of each you will be sure to find a raspberry, or purple cur- 
rant, or gooseberry bush, or at least a wild columbine, whose 
scarlet robe and golden heart make it quite as welcome. We like 
the stumps for the sake of their pretty adornments, and so have 
let them stand. — (Would you know who zve and they are ? come, 
then, at evening ; you shall be most cordially welcomed ; for the 
kindly forbearance with which you have looked upon the first 



334 



MADISON COUNTY. 



simple efforts of one there beloved, has made you quite the 
friend.)" 

From this fondly-cherished home, Emily Chiibbuck went 
out into the world — the toiling, heartless world — poor, but 
not friendless, for the warm hearts of kindred enfolded her 
in their affections ; at one time a factory girl, for a time an 
apprentice at millinery, and then entering upon the labors 
of the district school teacher. The congeniahty of this oc- 
cupation lightened the tasks which otherwise would have 
borne heavily upon a fine and delicate nature, and it became 
the stepping-stone to something higher. From here to a 
position in the Utica Female Seminary, she progressed, 
where in an atmosphere of appreciation and encouragement 
her genius expanded, and burst into blossom, to astonish with 
its beauty, and to charm with its freshness and fragrance a 
literary public, sated with heavy love romances, and thirst- 
ing for the fresh nectar sparkling from the fountain of a 
pure warm heart. Her originality was marked, her genius 
unmistakable. And so Emily Chubbuck, of Alderbrook, 
became the gifted Fanny Forester, and the honored Mrs. 
Judson, of whom all America was proud. 

To the home of Fanny Forester the poor student might 
well go on a pilgrimage, and there learn lessons of self-de- 
nial and of perseverance, and there gather courage to strive 
and win, as she did. (Note i) 

The name " Alderbrook " is now applied to the little fac- 
tory villa which has grown upon a portion of Mr. Chubbuck's 
farm. The " toll gate " has been removed, and a convenient 
farm house, owned by Mrs. Tayntor, stands nearly in its 
place. The road, instead of rising over the hill, diverges 
from the old route a little way from where the toll house 
stood, and follows the stream at the base of the hill, passing 
" Underbill " on the other (the "field") side. Where an 
old saw mill stood on the stream, is situated the Alderbrook 
Woolen Mill, a stone building four stories high, erected by 
Morse & Brown in 1849, ^'"^^ which has for years belonged 



EATON. 335 

to Alpheus Morse, Esq. This mill, when in full operation, 
employs about seventy-five hands, and manufactures the 
finest quality of doeskins and cassimeres. 

Along this brook road is situated the Boarding Hall, the 
" Long Block " containing six tenements, and a number of 
tasteful dwellings belonging to the factory employees. The 
meadows where the " spotted lilly reared its graceful head," 
has been entirely converted into a long deep pond necessary 
for the operations of the factory, but many alders still fringe 
the brook in the gorge below the mill, where it tinkles as 
gracefully as in the days of Fanny Forester. The high 
hills on the north are scarcely skirted by forests now ; only 
here and there are patches of timber land, spared only 
through fear of future scarcity. The " hill " which rises 
beyond the brook is still forest capped, and adown its sides 
is a plentiful sprinkling of berry bushes as of yore. Un- 
derbill Cottage is there, not changed, only as the rough 
hands of time have defaced its beauty and spread over it 
an aspect of age. The roses, eglantines and myrtle, which 
crept over its trellised porches, have faded from earth as 
have Underbill's lovely inmates, one by one fallen to sleep. 
By the side of the old hearth-stone, one ol this affectionate 
and gifted family, Miss Cynthia Chubbuck, aunt to Mrs. 
Judson, still lingers, and her gentle hand has smoothed the 
pillow of those who have come to breathe their life out un- 
der the roof of home. 

East of Alderbrook woolen mill is the Alderbrook grist 
mill, which was originally the site of a wadding factory, 
built by Amos Pettis in 1848. This factory was 
burned in 185 1, and a large amount of wadding, cotton and 
machinery were destroyed, making it a total and heavy loss 
to Mr. Pettis. It was, however, soon rebuilt, and finally 
converted into a grist mill which is now owned by Mr. E. 
Hatch. 

A few rods up the little stream which comes from the 
north and empties into the Alderbrook just here, on land 



336 MADISON COUNTY. 

now owned by Mrs. Tayntor, there once stood a furnace. 
In 1825, this furnace was owned by Chubbuck* & Marcy, 
who manufactured the first cast iron plows of this part of 
the country. 

PIERCEVILLE. 

In 1 8 19, Squire Samuel Chubbuck built a tavern here at 
the corner of the road leading to Lebanon. For years, 
during the period when staging and turnpike traveling made 
profitable business for landlords, this tavern enjoyed pros- 
perity with others. Luke Hitchcock was then owner of the 
" Company Hill," and much of the other land of the prem- 
ises now belonging to the Pierceville Factory Company, 
He built the small house on the north side of the creek, 
west side of the road, where he lived many years, and died. 
The house on the east side of the road opposite him, (now 
owned by Amos Hammond,) was built by Seth Whitmore 
as early as 1820. The stately apple trees here, were 
brought by Mr. Whitmore on his back from the Taylor farm, 
in Lebanon, about the same time. They are common fruit 
and yet bear abundantly. 

About 1825, David Rogers built a small cotton factory 
where the carpenter shop and planing mill of George Dun- 
bar now stands. Sheetings and satinet warps were made 
by Mr. Rogers. This factory in 1832, was one of the three 
cotton factories which the census gave Madison County. 
Mr. Rogers built two or three of the houses now embraced 
in the premises of the present cotton mill, and also set out 
the handsome row of maples which shade the streets. Mr. 
Rogers married the daughter of Luke Hitchcock. 

At a subsequent period John Brown purchased the Chub- 
buck tavern, and as travel grew less and this business de- 

*Samuel Chubbuck, one of the proprietors, is elsewhere mentioned as a black- 
smith, and the first proprietor of the lower hotel in Eaton village. He was of 
the Chubbuck family of Alderbrook. His son, Samuel Chubbuck, of Utica, is a 
noted machinist of the highest order. He has made the fine mechanical work of 
telegraphing a specialty, and in this department has won golden opinions from em- 
inent personages, among whom is the Emperor Alexander, Czar of all the Russias. 



EATON. 



?>?>7 



clined, he converted it into a dwelling, which is now owned 
by his son Healey Brown. 

The firm of E. & A. Wood, machinists, commenced here, 
occupying the Rogers' factory buildings as a furnace and 
machine shop, in 1845. They came here to make ma- 
chinery for the incoming factory firm, J. O. Pierce & Co. 
In 1848, the Woods removed to Eaton and estabhshed 
there. 

In 1844, Jonathan Pierce, of Hamilton, purchased the 
premises belonging to Mr. Rogers, together with consider- 
able adjacent property, which embraced the above named 
" Hill," of forty acres, (half of it woods then,) and the farm 
of Widow Sherman, on the east of the Lebanon road, 
whereon was a superb mill site. During 1845, he built on 
this site a factory for the purpose of manufacturing cotton 
goods. He added, that year, several dwellings and a store, 
and in January, 1846, commenced operations. Jonathan 
Pierce died about 1850, and was succeeded by his son 
Jonathan Osgood Pierce, who carried on a large business 
under the firm name of Pierce, Cady, Crocker & Co. Mr. 
Pierce, as the head of the firm, made extensive improve- 
ments in building and otherwise, and spared no pains to 
make it an attractive place. From an article written in 
1856, descriptive of the pretty scene this place presented, 
the following is extracted : — 

" On the corner of the road leading from the turnpike south, 
is the mansion house of John Brown ; a few rods from the cor- 
ner is the newly built residence of Hamilton Cobb, the buildings 
and grounds being arranged in an improved style. Descending 
a short distance we reach the residence of J. O. Pierce, almost 
hidden in its bower of shrubbery and ornamental trees. Its 
walks, summer-house, spacious and elegantly furnished parlors 
are often made joyous by gay parties from the cities and large 
villages, who enjoy Mr. Pierce's unbounded hospitality during 
the summer months. On the opposite side of the road is the 
store of J. O. Pierce & Co., — the roomy Boarding House, 
abundantly furnished, the green park of young maples, covering 
about two acres of ground, and beyond them, almost hidden 
from view, is the brown cotton factory ; the hum of its wheels, 



338 MADISON COUNTY. 

the pealing of its bell, the passing to and fro of hands, the 
arrival and departure of customers at the store, which exceeds in 
trade all the other country stores, altogether make up a lively 
scene. Behind the heavy shade trees which border the side- 
walks, are the factory houses, white painted, cleanly kept yards 
and neat picket fences. The air is fragrant with the odor of 
flowers and some ancient, white-blossomed locust trees. A wide 
lane, or road, leads in among the houses, at the farther end of 
which is a saw mill, and the planing mill of Geo. Andrews. 
There is a blacksmith shop and a tailor shop. At the south 
end of the village is a small white house, with flower adorned 
yard in front, which is the residence of a lady physician, Mrs. 
Dr. D. Chase. (Note/.) There is a neat white school house, 
built in a style to accommodate the citizens with meetings. It 
is well supplied with maps and apparatus, mathematical, astro- 
nomical, &c., for a district school, and has a roll list of loo 
scholars. Altogether the place has some thirty dwellings and 
about 225 inhabitants." 

During the financial crisis of 1857, this company failed, 
and from that time to this, there has been a steady decay 
of those valuable premises. Nervertheless, much business 
has been done in the mill since. In the year 1868, under 
the superintendence of John Dalman, there were woven 
sometimes as many as 16,500 yards of sheeting per week ; 
and during the six months following the first of May of 
that year, this mill manufactured 460 bales, or 342,000 
yards of sheeting. The census of 1855, states of this mill 
as follows : — Capital invested in real estate, 1^15,000 ; ditto, 
in tools and machinery, ^15,000; ditto, raw material, 
^30,000 ; ditto, in manufactured goods, ^30,000 ; number 
of persons employed, 63. The premises have been owned 
by several different ones since 1857. H. M. Kent, who 
was superintendent from 1848 to 1857, had the agency till 
1866. Charles Pierce then purchased it. He sold in 1871- 
The present firm is Nason & Co., of New York city. 

PRATTS' HOLLOW. 

John and Matthew Pratt from Vergennes, Vermont, came 
to the north east corner of the town of Eaton, and settled 
among the hills in a dense wilderness, the place afterwards 
being called Pratts' Hollow, from them. At their first 



EATON. 



339 



coming in they had but little money, and a cutter held all 
their worldly effects. But they were enterprising men 
and went to work with a will. After getting some of the 
woods down and letting in the sunlight, they decided to 
build a grist mill. They prepared their timber, and after 
getting everything in readiiess, sent out for their neigh- 
bors to help in the raising. No building was raised in 
those days without ardent spirits ; and it is related, by way 
of giving us an insight into the custom of the times, that 
the Pratts endeavored to procure rum of Major Clough of 
Madison, for the raising, but who refused to trust them, as 
they had no ready money. The day arrived, and they were 
in great tribulation because of their inability to procure 
the one thing needful ; everybody would be there and the 
reputation of their mill would be scandalized if they could 
not do the " honorable " at the raising. One of the Pratts 
confided his trouble to Col. Leland, who gave his order, 
and forthwith Major Clough uncorked his cask, the rum 
flowed, and the mill was raised with a right good will. The 
location of this grist mill is about a half mile out of Pratts' 
Hollow. It has, through repairs and rebuilding, been a 
very useful institution, despite the circumstances attending 
its origin. 

The Pratts prospered. They soon built a saw mill, then 
a large distillery which they operated for many years. 
They had several houses, and built and stocked a large 
store, and before 1825, built one of the first woolen mills of 
the county. 

The firm of the Pratt Brothers transacted a heavy busi- 
ness with their grist mill, saw mill, woolen mill and distil- 
lery, and at one time it was supposed they were worth at 
least $60,000. They were energetic business men, had 
large families, and altogether wielded a strong influence. 
John Pratt was a wide awake Methodist ; used frequently to 
exhort, being regarded as a gifted person in that direction. 
His name was prominently connected with the building up 



340 



MADISON COUNTY. 



of the Methodist Church in Pratts' Hollow, and also that in 
Morrisville. 

In time, the Pratt Brothers dissolved partnership ; after 
that, their property, which had so rapidly accumulated 
began to waste away. As one reverse after another 
pressed upon them each, they became disheartened ; their 
families began to scatter, and to-day their homes are in vari- 
ous states of the Union. John and Matthew Pratt both died 
in Madison County ; Matthew in Hamilton, at an advanced 
age ; John died in Canastota a few years since, over ninety 
years of age. The Fearons purchased the Pratt property. 

J. F. Chamberlain came to Pratts' Hollow about 1809. 
He was from Southwick, Mass. He commenced his manu- 
facturing works with a carding machine and clothiery, which, 
in the course of a few years, he increased to a small woolen 
factory. He then built a small cotton factory where he 
made satinet warps. About 1825, Isaac Peet united with 
Chamberlain in business, and under the firm name of Cham- 
berlain & Co., they built a larger cotton mill for the manu- 
acture of sheetings. They also built several houses for 
families, a boarding house, a store, &c. Mr. J. F. Chamber- 
lain died in 1839 ^^ ^^^ ^S^ of sixty years. His son suc- 
ceeded to the property. 

The widow of Mr. Chamberlain still survives at the ad- 
vanced age of ninety-two years. She resides with her 
daughter, Mrs. Leland, in Morrisville. Her vigor of body 
and mind is wonderful for her years. She relates with ac- 
curacy her experience during the early years of their settle- 
ment in Pratts' Hollow. When she came therein 1809. she 
was a wife, and mother of four children. She entered with 
spirit into all her husband's undertakings, and like the wise 
woman of Solomon's time, who " layeth her hands to the 
spindle and her hands hold the distaff," so Mrs. Chamber- 
lain wrought some exquisite fabrics from the distaff and 
spindle. One of the earliest fairs of Morrisville exhibited a 
specimen of her handiwork, a piece of linen containing six- 



EATON 



341 



teen yards, a little over a yard wide, which, when bleached, 
weighed six pounds. It was made from long silken fibres 
of the best of flax, hetchelled by her own hands and spun 
by herself on a two hand wheel. Nine run, or 180 knots of 
yarn, weighed a pound before weaving, which shows the fine- 
ness of the fabric. 

Between 1825 and 1840, Pratts' Hollow was a flourishing 
manufacturing village, with the Pratts' woolen mill, the 
Chamberlain & Co.'s cotton mill, the two boarding houses, 
the two stores, tavern, and distillery. During these years 
several different men and firms engaged in one or the other of 
these manufacturing concerns, built up for themselves small 
fortunes and moved away. Some are enjoying their gains 
to-day, while others in their prodigality have suffered their 
savings to slip away easier than they came. 

Time changes all things, and gradually its changes came 
to Pratts' Hollow, In 1852, the Chamberlain cotton mill 
was burned ; the proprietors suffered a total loss, as it was 
not insured, and did not rebuild. The little old cotton mill 
has been moved upon the site of the burnt one and convert- 
ed into a cheese box factory. The small old woolen factory 
of Chamberlain's is now a cheese factory. The Pratts' woolen 
mill has changed hands repeatedly and is repaired to be 
again put in operation. H. C. Howe of the Eureka Mills, 
West Eaton, used this mill during the war for making army 
stockings. 

This is yet a stirring, thrifty village, with one store, a tav- 
ern, a woolen mill, cheese factory, saw mill, grist mill, 
Methodist Church, and about thirty-five hofises. 

About 1806, a number of Protestant Irish settled on 
farms in and about Pratts' Hollow. These were theTookes, 
Kerns, Fearons, Tackaburys, Philpots and others. Among 
the different members of these families, men who have been 
useful and influential members of society, we have the names 
of Michael Tooke, Francis Tooke, James Tackabury, 
George Philpot, Francis Kern, John Kern and George 



342 MADISON COUNTY. 

Fearon. Among the family of Tookes are two Methodist 
ministers. Lambert Kern of DeRuyter, of the family of 
Kerns, was appointed District Attorney in 1865. Edwin 
C. Philpot* of one of these pioneer families, is Justice of the 
Peace and has been the frequent recipient of public favors. 
These are mostly farmers of the scientific and progressive 
sort. Nathaniel Tooke, living in the north-east corner of the 
town, ornaments the road sides along his farm by setting out 
fruit trees for shade, thus evincing his thrift and liberality. 



The Pine Woods Tavern was built in 1834, by Richard 
Madison, who now lives in Binghamton, and is eighty-two 
years of age. 

Solomon Root, who settled at the town line on the road 
leading from Pine Woods to Bouckville, was the first class- 
leader of the old Methodist church in Bouckville, which 
was originated in this neighborhood. Meetings were first 
held in his house. Then he built the " Chapel," near him, 
which stood on the town line, where meetings were after- 
wards held. This Chapel is still standing, having been 
converted into a dwelling, and is owned by Alonzo .Peck. 

Josiah Peck came from Rhode Island in the year 1806. 
He took up a large wilderness farm and built his first log 
house east of the present tavern across the canal. His son, 
Alonzo Peck, succeeded to the homestead, and made addi- 
tions to it in purchases of land. When the Chenango 
Canal was built through his farm, he built large store houses 
and engaged heavily in the forwarding business, both here 
and at Hamilton. Peck's Basin has been known to dealers 
in produce and those connected with the trade, as the cen- 
ter of a large business since the canal first opened. 

The following extracts from a diary kept by Benjamin 
Morse, the pioneer, are records of events, which, to an un- 
usual degree, affected the prosperity of the inhabitants : — 

*E. C. Philpot received the Republican nomination for Member of Assembly 
or the 2d District and was elected Nov. 5th, 1872. 



EATON. 343 

"1809. July II, was a rainy day, which, together with rain 
the day before and after, made a great freshet. Generally 
thought there fell two feet of water all over this part of the 
earth. The rain began to come on Sunday by showers, and on 
Monday the 17th, it rained like a shower all day." 

"1810. The night of July the 17th there was a great frost 
The frost was so thick on the fences that it could be scraped up 
by the handsful like snow balls. The grass was froze so, that 
when cutting it off, there would scales of ice flake up an inch 
long. The ice gathered on the scythe snath a quarter of an inch 
thick. The leaves of corn and beans, squashes, cucumbers and 
other things, were frozen stiff, yet but very little damage was 
done with us." 

"1816. June the 6th it snowed most of the forenoon. The 
night after, the ground froze." [The following entry was made 
afterwards.] "The years 1816 and '17, cold; no corn. 1816 
was dry and cold. 181 7 was wet and cold. 18 18, wet in the 
spring, and somewhat cold until May 20. Was then a good 
season for corn and other crops ; very extra for hay. 1819, very 
warm all the season. First frost Sept. 21. Some corn fit to 
grind in August, that year. All crops exceedingly good, except 
hay — that middling." 

CHURCHES. 

T/ie First Baptist Church of Eaton, was organized in 
Morrisville, in 1809. The first meeting house v^ras built 
almost entirely by Deacon Arowdell Lamb, the same year. 
It was a small house, 20 x 30 feet. In 1826, it w^as moved 
about fifty rods^ east of its first location, to the grounds 
where the old church now stands ; it was subsequently 
added to by building, completing its present dimensions. 
February 17th, 1849, it was sold at public auction for ^400 ; 
and February 20, the same year, the new and present 
house in Morrisville, was dedicated. Mrs. Emily Judson, 
and Dr. Dean and wife were children of this Zion. Rev. 
Dr. Kendrick, Rev. Obed Warren, and other distinguished 
ministers have been pastors of this church. 

The Presbyterian Church of Morrisville, was organized in 
18 1 7. In 1 8 17 and '18, the house of worship was built on 
Its present location, at a cost of ^1,680. 44. Rev. Silas 
Parsons was the first pastor. Some of the best talent of 
the denomination has been employed in its pulpit. 



344 MADISON COUNTY. 

The MctJiodist Episcopal Church of Mon isville, was in- 
corporated February 24, 1834, at a meeting held in the 
court house. First pastor, Rev, Ward White. The church 
edifice was built on its present location in 1835. It has 
since been much enlarged and improved. 

TJie Second Baptist Church of Eaton, was formed in 
Eaton village in 18 16. Elder Joseph Cooley was first 
minister. Rev. Nathaniel Kendrick was pastor from 18 17 
to 1833. Meetings were held in the brick school house till 
the meeting house was built, which was accomplished in 
1 8 19 and '20. It was repaired and improved at an expense 
of over ^1,200, in 1856. 

The Congregational Church, of Eaton Village, was formed 
in 1831. It rapidly increased to a large society. Rev. John 
Foote was first pastor. His inaugural sermon was preached 
June 8, 1833, being the first sermon preached in the new 
house of worship. The town clock and bell were put up in 
this church belfry in 1848. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, of Eaton Village, was 
formed in 1856, from the West Eaton church. The meet- 
ing house was built the same year. First pastor, Rev. Mr. 
Hall. During the pastorate of Rev. B. W. Hamilton, in 
1868, the house was extensively repaired. . 

Baptist Church of West Eaton. In 1820, a society of 
" Six Principle Baptists " was organized in this place, hold- 
ing their meetings in the school house. Elder Shaw was 
first pastor. This society divided, and from a portion of 
the members was formed the Baptist Society of " Leeville," 
in 1834. This society was subsequently merged into the 
church at Eaton. In 1853, the Baptist Church at West 
Eaton was organized. First pastor. Elder Daniel Putnam. 
The meeting house was built the same year. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, of West Eaton, was 
formed in 1841, having then seven members. Rev. Mr. 
Tremaine was first located pastor. In 1843, the meeting 
house was built on the hill. In 1869, during the pastorate 



EATON. 345 

of Rev. B. W. Hamilton, a new edifice, costing $15,000, was 
erected on Main street. The old church was sold for a 
public hall. The Eaton village church was formed from 
this in 1856. 

TJie Methodist Church, of Pi^atts' Holloiv, was formed as 
a class as early as 18 10. Meetings were held in school 
houses for many years. The society continued to prosper, 
although not large. In 1838, while Rev. Daniel Whedon 
was pastor in charge, the meeting house was built. The 
society has a large and excellent Sabbath school. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Madison Observer was removed from Cazenovia 
to Morrisville by Rice & Hall, its publishers, in the year 
1822. In 1824, it was published by Bennett Bicknell, who, 
in 1839, purchased the "Hamilton Recorder," when the two 
were consolidated, and became 

The Observer and Recorder. In 1832, this passed into 
the hands of H. C. Bicknell and James Norton, and in 
1834, the latter became sole proprietor. In 1835, it was 
changed to 

The Madison Observer. In 1839, J, and E. Norton 
became its publishers, and in 1856, Edward Norton, by 
whom it is still published. It is the oldest newspaper in 
Madison County, and has lived half a century in Morris- 
ville ; it has a strong hold upon the affections of its long- 
time readers ; the old families of the county, of whatever 
party or creed, cling to the " Observer" as to "an old friend, 
whose familiar face they have met each week for fifty years. 

The Independent Volunteer, was started July 28, 1864, 
by G. R. Waldron and J. M. Chase, In August, 1865, 
it was issued by G. R. Waldron. September, 26, 1866, 
it was changed to 

Waldroiis Democratic Volunteer, and was moved to 
Hamilton, where it is now published by Waldron & Son. 



346 MADISON COUNTY 



C HAPTER VII 



FENNER. 



Boundaries. — Geography. — Perryville Falls. — Productions. — 
Ancient Route of Armies. — New Petersburgh Tract. — Mile 
Strip. — Early Settlement. — Names of Settlers. — Experience 
of Pioneers. — Indians. — First Improvements. — Early Schools 
and Meetings. — Incidents of First Town Meeting of Smith- 
field. — Town Officers. — Organization and Naming of Town 
of Fenner. — Curious Names of Localities. — Fenner Corner. — 
Perryville, its Rise and Progress. — Oren S. Avery — Chitte- 
nango Falls Village. — Notices of Early Settlers. — Influential 
Men. — Prominent Families. — Churches. 

Fenner is an interior town, lying northv^rest of the center 
of the county. It is bounded north by Sullivan and Lenox, 
east by Smithfield, south by Nelson, and west by Cazenovia. 
It was formed from Cazenovia and Smithfield April 22, 
1823, It was given an area of forty square miles. Asa 
town, no other in the county or counties adjoining, presents 
a greater elevation, or lies nearer the clear upper air than 
this. From one of the highest hills in School District 
No. 15, extensive views may be had of the Assembly 
District in which it is situated, together with portions of 
Onondaga, Oswego and Oneida Counties. From the 
generous bosom of her soil gushes innumerable fountains, 
the sources of more and greater streams than any other 
equal amount of territory in the county. In southern 
Fenner, the main branch of the Chittenango, which waters 
so much of Nelson and Cazenovia, has its rise and takes 



FENNEK. 347 

its circuitous southward course ; and down declivities, 
numerous brooks hurry to join the Chittenango on the 
west border of the town. Large branches of Oneida Creek 
reach through Smithfield up among the Fenner hills, and 
draw from their plenteous springs. The Cowasselon finds 
one of its sources in the north east corner of the town ; 
and the Canaseraga, rising in the center, takes a northward 
course, passing from the town where Sullivan and Lenox 
corner, at Perryville. Some of the most romantic scenery 
of New York State is found on the line of the Cazenovia 
and Canastota railroad in this town. Perryville Falls, on 
the Canaseraga, are thus described in a sketch published 
after a visit there in 1871 : 

No one with any love of nature can afford to stop here 
without visiting Perryville Falls, for nature is generous in 
her wild and grand gifts. She must have been in one of her 
sublimest moods when she rent asunder the rocks, scooped 
out the debris and shaped the gorge, let the Canaseraga 
drop over the rocks, and planted the luxuriant foliage. Our 
way to the falls was led by a courageous young friend, 
down the natural stone steps, out upon the platform, where 
the path is perhaps some eight feet wide ; where the rocks 
tower in overhanging piles above, and where the abyss is 
fully 100 feet below. We were shown where once a man 
had slipped off and lodged in the tops of trees below, and 
thus escaped with his life ; another had climbed a slim tree, 
growing at the edge of the precipice, and registered his 
name high on the projecting rock above. We expected to 
find successive flights of stairs which would bring us some- 
where near the base of the falls, when our fair guide paused, 
and passing a few feet beyond, we found ourselves at the 
extreme limits of the path, on an overhanging rock, more 
than one hundred feet above terra firma. From here the 
view of the falls is very beautiful. The water plashes over 
many jutting points, forming a series of cascades, 130 feet 
high. The wild abyss, with its walled sides, protects its treas- 



348 



MADISON COUNTY. 



ures of wild sweetness, luxuriant trees and shrubbery of 
manifold varieties and species, and echoes back the music 
of the cataract, and far along catches up the murmur of 
the Canaseraga, while it is borne as peacefully along its bed 
as if no wondrous feat had been performed in leaping from 
the hights. Couched upon that overhanging rock we 
viewed the scene with delight, wishing only that the 
Canaseraga were four times as large that its thunderings 
might shake the rocks ; then peering over into the abyss, 
we took back the wish in very fear and awe ; then crept to 
the walled side of the path, clinging close to the rocks, 
thinking the while of the feeling of safety they gave, 
typical of the marvelous confidence felt when trusting in 
the " Rock that is higher than I." As we climbed the 
last stair, the upper landscape was as quietly sleeping in 
the setting sun, as if there was no yawning abyss close at 
hand. Although we have our romantic hills and vales in 
southern Madison county, yet, we commend the north side 
of the ridge for wild scenery, and the well-appointed 
Cazenovia and Canastota Railroad, which has opened a way 
to these mountain fastnesses. 

Extensive marl beds are found in this town. On the 
banks of the Chittenango, calcarious tufa is quarried and 
burned into lime. Geologists have remarked that this 
region of country with its vast amount of excellent build- 
ing stone, its inexhaustible beds of lime and water lime, 
does not appear to be fully appreciated. The soil is a 
gravelly and clayey loam, well adopted to the raising of 
grain. Wheat, barley and wool constituted the staple 
market productions for many years ; no town in the county 
has exported so great an amount of barley, and nowhere 
has greater attention been paid to its cultivation. The 
" Hess barley " originated here.* 

*In 1844, three heads of barley were discovered by Mr. David Hess, of Fen- 
ner, apparently very different from the main crop which he had sowed ; these 
heads were noticed during the progress of the crop to maturity and carefully pre- 
served at the season of harvest. The three heads grew from one root -ind produced 



FENNER. 349 

Although one of the later organized towns, Fenner has a 
pioneer history coeval with several of those organized at an 
early day. More remote than its pioneer records, is an un- 
written history of Indian hunters' encampments, and of 
scouting parties from the warring tribes in their strategetic 
detours to ascertain the strength and movements of the 
Oneidas. Here vast forests offered them secure retreats, 
and these elevated hights presented most favorable lookouts 
over the plains of the Oneida country, (now the towns ot 
Lenox and Sullivan,) above the woodlands, across the 
marshy lowlands and incipient lakes, and beyond and over the 
beautiful expanse of Lake Oneida. The curling smoke of 
the wigwam ascending here and there above the trees of 
the low country forest, would indicate to the watchful eye 
of the enemy that the tribe was scattered about in the 
peaceful avocations of Indian life, hunting, fishing, basket 
making, or seeking the curiosities with which they manu- 
factured their wampum belts, thus predicting to them a 
favorable opportunity to descend upon and destroy their 
villao-es. Failing to witness these signs, the wary adven- 
turers would proceed with greater caution, treading the 
lonely Indian paths with stealthy feet, watchful, lest a well 
trained band of Oneidas should suddenly come upon them. 
If tradition informs us correctly, organized companies of 
white soldiery, have, in their marches, sometimes chosen the 
highland paths in this town, in preference to the marshy 
route of Sullivan. As long ago as 1696, when Count De 
Frontenac made the attempt to subjugate the Iroquois, from 
Onondaga he sent forward Mons. De Vaudreuil with six or 
seven hundred French and Indians on foot to the Oneida vil- 
lao-e to destroy it. Mons. Vaudreail made a swift march of the 
'■fourteen good leagues" which lay between the Onondaga 

a half pint of grain in 1845; this product was multiplied to 96 bushels in 1848. 
The barley of this region now known as the "Hess barley," weighd about 50 lbs. 
to the bushel; quantity per acre from 35 to 40 bushels; greatest or premium 
crops, 54, 56, 66 and 67 bushels per acre. It is the two-rowed variety. It is 
estimated that ten thousand bushels of this variety were produced in 18 5 1. — From 
Trans. N. T. S. Ag. Soc. 1851, page 716. 



350 



MADISON COUNTY. 



and Oneida Castles, notwithstanding their route was "in 
the woods with continual mountains, and a multitude of 
rivers and large streams to be crossed." We infer that the 
route of " continual mountains " was made through Fenner, 
Smithfield and Stockbridge, a road traversed by soldiery 
three-quarters of a century later, traces of which, (so 
runs the tradition,) in places here and there from Stock- 
bridge to Fenner, were not entirely obliterated at the clos- 
ing of the last century. 

Passing out from the shadows over the history of those 
far distant days, we gladly enter upon an era where we can 
arrange our data, and make our statements with some de- 
gree of certainty. 

From a part of the New Petersburgh tract, and also the 
Mile Strip, the town of Fenner was formed. The former 
was leased of the Indians in 1794 and purchased in 1797 ; 
the latter (Mile Strip,) was granted by the Oneidas, from 
their reservation, to the Slate, and was called the " Cowas- 
selon tract ;" it contained twenty-five lots in two tiers, and 
lay between the Cowasselon and Chittenango Creeks. It 
was purchased of the State in 1797 by Dr. Enoch Leonard, 
and from the fact of its being a mile across it, was named 
Mile Strip, this title having passed into all legal documents 
pertaining thereto. Previous to these purchases, and in the 
year 1793, it is said the first settlement of this town was 
made in the western part of the town, in the vicinity and 
west of the Fenner meeting house. As many of the first 
settlers were transient inhabitants, soon gathering up their 
effects to pass on to regions nea'-er the great West, so their 
names are, in most instances, lost, and among those names 
may have been that of the first settler. 

It was not until Peter Smith had acquired possession ot 
the New Petersburgh tract that permanent settlement be- 
gun, the acquisition of a title to their homes being an object 
of paramount importance to the pioneer. Among the ear- 
liest settlers were Alpheus Twist and James Munger, from 



FENNER. 351 

Connecticut, who located about a mile south of the center, 
Jonathan Hunger and Mr, Page in the north part, Elisha 
Freeman, Ithuriel Flower, Amos Webster and Amanda 
Hunger in the south part. Phineas and Abel Town, John 
Needham, Thomas Gushing and J. D. Turner were also 
early settlers. Arnold Ballou came from Rhode Island 
about 1800. Joel Downer came in 1801 from Vermont. 
He located in school district No. 9. Silas Ballou (cousin to 
Arnold Ballou,) came from Providence, Rhode Island, about 
1803 or '4, and located in the eastern part of Fenner. 
David Fay came from Brimfield, Mass., the winter of 1805 
and located on lot No. 16, a farm which had been previously 
occupied, and a small clearing made by a Mr. Rhodes. 
Thomas Wilson took up and cleared a large farm. A Mr, 
Foster took up the farm south of Mr. Wilson's. He never 
enjoyed the benefits of the toil expended upon his farm, as 
he lost his life at an early day by the falling of a tree. 
Samuel and Zat Payne took up farms north of the Cazeno- 
via and Oneida turnpike, in that part of the town bordering 
on Smithfield. 

A company of Scotch families from Scotland took up 
farms near the east Fenner line, between the turnpike and 
the Peterboro and Perryville road. Among these may be 
named Robert Stewart, James Cameron, Daniel Douglass, 
John Robinson and James Cole, 

During the incoming of emigration, Fenner received a 
generous share of population, equal to ihe adjoining towns. 
The salubrity of the air, its comparative freedom from the 
noxious miasmas of swamps, the adaptability of the soil to 
the culture of the more profitable cereals, were inducements 
which overcame other obstacles. The population increased 
more rapidly than some sections possessing better natural 
resources, 

Benjamin Woodworth, John Miles, Daniel Torrey, Jared 
Merrills, Joseph Haynard, David Foskett, Hiram Roberts, 
James Walker, Dan HcKay, David Cook, Truman Bee- 



o:)- 



MADISON COUNTY. 



man, Lot Pickens. Solomon Field, Hezekiah Hyatt, Daniel 
R. Baxter, Seth Smith, 2d, Oliver l^rownson, Seba Ensign, 
Linus Ensign and Jonathan Bump, were early settlers ; 
there should be added, also, the names of Barber, Gushing, 
Dana, Dickinson, Davis, Eddy, Faulkner, Gordon, Hess, 
Hill, Howard, Jacob Hungerford, Johnson, Jones, Keeler, 
Loundsbury, Laird, Stafford, Sayles, Stoddard and Wilbur. 

Samuel Nichols located on Mile Strip in 1802. He was 
from Cazenovia, where he settled, with a family, in 1793. 
He was originally from Albany County. The Nichols fam- 
ily purchased a mile of land on the Mile Strip road, which 
the father and sons cleared up into farms. But few of this 
large family remain in town, those who survive being scat- 
tered over the States of the Union. Drake Selleck was an 
early settler. Russel Ransom came, in iSi i, from Scoharie 
Gounty, and located near Perryville, purchasing a large 
farm. Dr. Daniel Pratt, came from Massachusetts and 
settled near Perryville, in 18 14; Lyman Blakeslee came 
about the same time, from Paris, Oneida Gounty, and also 
located near Perryville, on the border of Sullivan. In a 
short time, four brothers and one sister of Mr. Blakeslee 
located in Fenner, near Perryville. 

In the west part of the town, near Ghittenango Falls, two 
jNIerriam brothers took up large farms. Thomas Glay took 
up Lot No. 8, now the farm of Galvin Mead. He had the 
road laid out from the Falls over the hill, past his farm. At 
the Falls, Mr. Asaph Hummiston, who came from Litch- 
field, Gonn., in the year 18 18, took up 100 acres of Lot No. 
7, and 100 acres of an adjoining lot in Gazenovia. His land 
embraced the site of the Falls village. Joseph Twogood 
took up and cleared a large farm on Mile Strip, bordering 
on the east of the Ghittenango. He laid out the old Falls 
road, which runs parallel with the creek on the east side. 

Peter Robbins, Ned Fosdick and a Mr. Perkins were early 
settlers in the west part of the town. John Ghase took up 
and cleared a portion of the farm belonging to Atkinson's 
JNIill, which lay in this town. 



FENNER. 



353 



Among the first experiences of the pioneer is the novelty 
of the situation — the dense wilderness, the route of marked 
trees, the log domicil, the odd manners and peculiarities of 
the Indians, the strange and sometimes fearful sounds of 
the brute dwellers of the woods. Travelers and settlers, 
when out at night in the wide stretches of forest, carried 
their burning pine knot to keep wild animals at a respectful 
distance. We are told, however, that Zat Payne, having 
forgotten his burning brand while on his way from his home 
to Silas Ballou's, one night, was attacked by, and had a 
fearful struggle with a b,ar, but managed to escape with 
his garments nearly all torn off. The hunters gathered in 
force next day, and scoured the forest till Bruin was found 
and killed. Deer so abounded that venison was a common 
article of consumption ; small herds of these graceful, Vild 
creatures came to the "deer lick," on Mr. Ballou's 
farm, when, after having satisfied their thirst for the min- 
eral or "brackish" water, they would gallop off to some 
wheat field, scale the brush fence with perfect ease, and 
revel in luxury till discovered by the owner. The deer 
were considered troublesome neighbors, as no fence of that 
day restrained them, and herds of from seven to twelve 
made destructive work in the wheat fields. 

The Indians, in their journeys through Fenner, some- 
times stopped among the settlers for a day or more. At a 
time when a company of them were emigrating to Green 
Bay, they stopped here to rest and wash up their clothing, 
although but a short day's journey on their way. They had 
gathered their household effects into budgets, baked up 
their corn and bean bread, had killed and cooked their hens 
to take along, but brought their cocks alive to kill when 
needed ; and driving their cows along, also, they were 
equipped for the long journey, with all their possessions. 
During their stay here, they engaged in pastimes highly 
amusing to themselves. Cock fighting, in which the feath- 
ered combatants were armed with steel spurs, and fought 
w 



!54 



MADISON COUNTY. 



fiercely, created real enthusiasm. The evenings were passed 
in gay sports. In one species of amusement, particularly, 
the hours passed right merrily : — The tawney company is 
ranged in a circle, squatted upon the ground, around the 
bright fire ; an Indian passes a pipe, from which each one 
draws as large a whiff of smoke as his or her mouth will hold, 
which is retained with closed lips. A sharp look out is 
kept by the leader of the game, a§. the judgment falls on the 
first one who laughs. Presently the smoke is seen to puff 
from the lips of a luckless fellow, who cannot control his 
mirth, and instantly, upon the signal, all are free to join in 
the uproarious glee, and in the bastinadoing which the poor 
victim must get, unless he can escape.* Other games, of a 
kindred character are indulged in till a late hour, when they 
dispose themselves upon the ground about the fire, in 
blankets, to sleep, leaving one or two to guard the cows, 
and otherwise act the part of sentinels. 

For a season, between the first settlement and the erec- 
tion of the first grist mill, there was often great privation 
on account of the scarcity of the material for bread. Meal 
and flour were obtained by the long journey to the New 
Hartford mill, but so tedious were these journeys, over the 
bad roads, and the resources of the pioneer were so limited, 
that the supply fell short of the demand many times, and 
various means to meet the necessity were resorted to. 

The intercourse with their Indian neighbors was of a 
most friendly nature, and from them they borrowed many 
customs in their days of need. That most savory dish, 
called " succotash," was an institution borrowed from our 
swarthy friends, though improved upon by the culinary pro- 
cesses of civilization, and the pioneers of this section did 
not disdain to partake of a species of bread manufactured 
after the Indian fashion. The large Tuscarora bean was 

* This game was, no doubt, but an exercise to discipline the young Indian in the 
control of facial expression, and that wonderful power of concealing or subduing 
emotion, for which the race is noted. 



FENNER. 



355 



boiled tender and stirred into Indian meal cakes, and thus 
baked, making a loaf which is said to have been very good. 
The Indian custom of pounding corn was adopted by every- 
body ; and a sort of -hominy was produced by shaving corn 
off from the ear, which was very palatable wh-en boiled ten- 
der. 

The grist mill built by Dr. Reuben Long, at Peterboro, 
and Powell's grist mill in Fenner, were the first mills in this 
region, and were both built previous to 1805. 

The first saw mill was built by William and Arnold 
Ballou. 

So soon as the farms had been sufficiently cleared for 
pasturage, flocks of sheep were brought in, upon which the 
people made great dependence for their winter clothing. 
The hand cards, spinning wheel and loom were busy in the 
manufacture of warm winter garments. In time, a decided 
improvement over the hand card came in the carding ma- 
chine. It is true some conservative ladies of that day de- 
clared that "the machines so chopped up the wool that the 
yarn was not near as good as that spun from hand-made 
rolls," yet the hand cards were quickly superseded by card- 
ing machines, as they have, with the spinning wheel and 
loom, in turn, been superseded by the woolen factory. The 
first carding machine in Fenner was owned by Ebenezer 
Wales, and was the only one in that section for many 
years. 

The first store was kept by Martin Gillett, and was located 
a little west of Fenner Corners. The first tavern was kept 
by David Cook, (afterwards Judge,) about one-fourth mile 
north of the Corners. Upon the main thoroughfares sev- 
eral taverns were afterwards built. The tide of travel made 
each one a scene of activity, and became a place where 
many congregated for amusement, and to learn the news of 
the outside world from the constantly arriving travelers. 
The practice of liquor drinking was too common to draw 
down upon the head of the liquor seller any legal judg- 



356 MADISON COUNTY, 

ment or punishment therefor. Consequently, as a matter 
of etiquette, every man should treat his friend ; and yet 
among this people there were few habitual drunkards. 

The changes made in the traveling world, by canals and 
railroads, has closed the ever open doors of these numerous 
hotels ; a neatly fenced dooryard is before the hopsitable 
bar room, while the interior arrangements and appoint- 
ments are now those of a well-regulated country farm 
house. 

The " Barrett House," so long an institution of Fenner 
Corners, was built about 1825, by a Mr. Roberts, and was 
sold by him to Mr. Anthony Barrett, who added to it. 

The first postmaster was Ebenezer Dunton, the office be- 
ing at Fenner Corners. It is said that the contents of the 
mail bag were duly deposited in a sap bucket and regularly 
overhauled on the inquiry of each patron, " is there any- 
thing for me .''" The postoffice at Fenner Corners is the 
only permanent one of the town, that at Perryville being 
sometimes in the town of Sulhvan. 

The first birth in town was a child of Alpheus Twist ; the 
first death the wife of Alpheus Twist. 

A large proportion of the pioneers were Massachusetts, 
Connecticut and Rhode Island people. They brought with 
them the staid habits, staunch integrity and religious prin- 
ciples of New England. They planted the customs of their 
ancestors in the soil of their adoption. Common schools 
and churches sprung up in their midst as a necessary part 
of their social, intellectual and moral life. The absence of 
school houses did not debar them from the benefit of 
schools. Any building, provided it shielded the pupils 
from the inclemency of the weather, served the purpose till 
more comfortable log school houses could be erected. Such 
was the spirit in school district No. 9, where the first school 
was held in an old potash, fitted up for the occasion. 

A description of one of the primitive school houses will 
give an idea of how our fathers persevered in the pursuit of 



FEKXER. 



357 



knowledge under difficulties. Among the interior arrange- 
ments of the log structure, was a huge fireplace, which 
stood at the west end, capable of holding a half cord of 
wood at once ; surrounding three sides of the room were 
the writing desks, adjusted to the rough wall, in front of 
which stood the uncouth slab seats, rough from the mill, 
with long legs and no backs to support the weary spines of 
the pupils. It is true, they might lean against the writing 
desk, at times, which was a relief; they might, in case their 
feet could with difficulty touch the floor, cross them and in- 
dulge in letting them swing ; perhaps their teacher would 
allow them to turn their faces toward the wall and lean upon 
the desk ; in any case, change was a rest. Robust, muscu- 
lar boys, restless in their confinement, surreptitiously tried 
their jack-knives, first upon the splinters of the slab seats, 
and after these were all smoothed off, used them in various 
artistic accomplishments — in engraving figures, or their 
names on the slabs ; and finally these operations were 
transferred to the writing desk, which became a mass of 
hieroglyphics, — horses, cattle and birds, and houses with 
windows and doors, and chimneys too, out of which great 
volumes of smoke were pouring, (this last done in ink,) and 
other such wonderful characters as none but the designers 
could decipher. 

Then there were the low seats down before the fire on 
which the little children sat, and which, when the great fire 
was raging hot, were so intolerably uncomfortable that a 
change of seats with the big scholars, who sat back in the 
frosty corners of the room, was frequently necessary. In 
this particular school house the large beam across the cen- 
ter, some eight feet from the floor, made a gymnasium for 
the large boys during the noon recess. A great variety of 
wonderful exerci.-es and surprising feats were daily per- 
formed here. 

Amidst all the difficulties, the enjoyments were the 
greater, and the pupils loved the old school house, and their 



358 MADISON COUNTY, 

well-worn old-fashioned books. Dilworth's spelling book 
could be repeated from beginning to end by some of the 
scholars, and the clear heads of the lads fully comprehended 
the whole of Daboll's arithmetic, and were longing for more 
complicated problems to solve in the mathematical world 
as well as the great problems of the life before them. 
The Columbian Orator, so often read and re-read, only in- 
itiated them into the mysteries of a power they endeavored 
to require in their declamations, and aspired some day to 
possess. 

And so from this school developed three physicians, one 
lawyer, one minister, a score of good business men, and 
numerous teachers. These physicians were Welcome 
Pray, Federal C. Gibbs and Andrew S. Douglass ; the law- 
yer, Lewis Pray ; the minister, Wm. B. Downer. Hon. 
Robert Stewart, president of the National Bank at Chitte- 
nango, and his brother, Daniel Stewart, president of the Na- 
tional Bank at Morrisville, were, when lads, pupils in this 
school. Joel G. Downer, for many years merchant and 
magistrate at Bridgeport, and late of California, was the first 
native of this district who engaged in teaching. 

The first church of this town, a Baptist, was organized 
August 23, 1801, with six members. Nathan Baker was 
the first preacher and Truman Beeman the next. Meet- 
ings were generally held in the school house at the Corners ; 
sometimes in the one north of there. The meeting house 
at the Corners was built by this society. In the cemetery 
belonging to this church repose the remains of very many 
of the pioneers of this section ; it is a lovely spot, with its 
primroses, cedars, pmes and hemlocks growing here and 
there among the old time tombstones, while a solitary ma- 
jestic poplar stands near the entrance, a relic of the earlier 
generations over whose silent remains it seems to stand 
sentinel. 

That part of Smithficld, now Fenner, had the honor of 
holding the first town meeting for Smithfield ; it was held 



FENNER. 359 

at the school house, near David Cook's, near where the Fen- 
ner meeting house now stands. 

There was strong sectional feeling and a spirit of rivalry 
between the inhabitants of the eastern and western parts of 
Smithfield. Two tickets were nominated ; the candidate of 
the east enders for snpervisorship, was Peter Smith, that of 
the western men for the same office, was David Cook. Tlie 
meeting was appointed April 7, 1807. During the few 
days previous had occurred the " great April sjiow storm " 
so well remembered by the oldest inhabitants — a storm the 
like of which had never been known before. It ceased 
storming on Saturday, when the snow lay full four feet deep, 
and traveling was impossible. The western portion of the 
town feared an adjournment of the meeting to Peterboro, 
where Mr. Smith's influence would secure his election. 
Should this storm prevent the attendance of voters from the 
eastern part, David Cook would be elected Stimulated by 
a desire to secure their ticket, the voters of East Smithfield, 
many of them living six and eight miles from the place of 
meeting, turned out almost to a man the next day, and by 
hard labor and perseverance made the roads passable, and 
manned such a force as secured the election of their own 
candidate — Peter Smith being duly elected Supervisor and 
Daniel Petrie, Town Clerk. After this a compromise seems 
to have been made to hold town meetings alternately at 
P^enner Corners and Peterboro. The town officers seem 
also to have been pretty fairly divided between the two sec- 
tions. Town officers were not then, as now, elected by bal- 
lot ; the custom of voting was viva voce. 

Among the regulations adopted at this meeting were the 
following : " Voted that lawful fences shall be four and a 
half feet high." "That no cattle, horses, hogs or sheep, 
shall run at large during the winter months within half a 
mile of any store, tavern or mill. That if any cattle be so 
found the owner or owners shall pay damages with pound 
fees of impounders." Also " that any person belonging to 



36o 



MADISON COUNTY. 



this town, killing a wolf within this county, shall be entitled 
to a bounty of ten dollars from this town." 

In June of this year, Peter Smith was appointed first 
Judge of the County Court, and David Cook, of this town, 
the unsuccessful candidate for Supervisor, was, with Smalley, 
Green and Payne, appointed Associate Judges. There was 
life in the political men of the 3d Allotment, and the next 
year Asa Dana, of that portion of Smithfield, was elected 
Supervisor at the meeting held in the school house in Pe- 
terboro, March i, 1808. At this meeting it was voted that 
" sheep be free commoners," also that " the log house on E. 
Hunger's farm be occupied as a work house for the poor 

'and indolent." Arnold Ballon and Asa Dana were part of 
the delegates from Smithfield appointed to meet with others 
on July the 13th, 18 10, for the purpose of centering the 
county, or in other words, for selecting a more central point 
for the County Seat, the Court House then being in Caze- 
novia. These two men, with Nehemiah Huntington, were 
pledged to the policy of " not locating the County Seat at 
present." 

Not unworthy was the desire on the part of Smithfield to 
secure the County Seat in Peterboro, and this policy of de- 
laying the decision of location may have reference of the 
hopes of eventually locating it there. In 18 10, Asa Dana 
was again elected Supervisor, and John Dorrance, Clerk. 
In 181 1, the town meeting was held at the school house 

• near the Fenner meeting house, in which the officers of the 
town of Smithfield were many of them, men of the 3d Allot- 
ment, citizens of the future town of Fenner. Thus it will 
be seen that, though the citizens of the eastern and western 
parts of Smithfield did sometimes exhibit a spirit of rivalry, 
yet on the whole a good degree of cordiality existed, and 
the competition developed a wholesome strength. The pro- 
ject of dividing the town was long talked of by a few, and in 
1 8 14 a petition to that effect was rejected by the towns. 
However, it still continued a subject of agitation, and al- 



FENNER. 361 

though at a town meeting in 1823, the vote against it was 
carried by a small majority, yet in consideration of the fast 
increasing population of this large territory, an act was 
passed in Legislature, April 22, 1823, organizing the town 
of Fenner. It was composed of the two western tiers of lots 
in the 2nd Allotment of New Petersburgh, the whole of the 
3d Allotment, excepting three lots in Cazenovia, and a few 
lots from the 4th Allotment which border on the ("hitte- 
nango ; this stream being made the western boundary of the 
town in connection with that part of Mile Strip which 
lies at the north. 

The incident connected with the naming of the town may 
be correctly related as follows: Col. Arnold Ballou, a 
wealthy and prominent citizen of Fenner, was a devoted 
admirer of Gov. Fenner, of Rhode Island. He proposed 
to the people of the new town the name of Fenner and 
promised the gift of a set of town books for the name. 
Subsequently some ill-disposed person created the rumor 
that Mr. Ballou had taken this method to perpetuate the 
name of his son, whom he had likewise named Fenner, in 
honor of his esteemed friend. This evil reflection on the 
honesty of Mr. Ballou's intention so incensed him that he 
withdrew his proposition, and the town lost her books. 
Nevertheless the name was adopted in honor of Governor 
Fenner of Rhode Island. The first town meeting was 
held May 6th, 1823. First Supervisor, Daniel M. Gillett, 
Town Clerk, Sardis Dana. At this meeting the town 
voted $17 S ^or the poor. 

Second town meeting March 2, 1824, Czar Dykeman 
was elected Supervisor, and Wm. Doolittle, Town Clerk. 
In this and in town meetings held thereafter, Fenner looked 
well to her public schools and town poor, voting a goodly 
sum for their maintenance. In one instance we find it 
recorded: "Voted $1,00 pr. week to Job Perry, a county 
pauper, instead of the usual amount of provisions." It will 
be remembered that with wheat 50 cents per bushel, corn 



362 MADISON COUNTY. 

25 do., potatoes one shilling, and butter eight and ten cents 
per pound, and eggs six cents per dozen, one dollar a 
week was equivalent to four times that amount now. At a 
meeting in 1827, where Nathaniel Hazelton was elected 
Supervisor, and Sardis Dana, Town Clerk, it was voted to 
" instruct the Supervisor to vote for the erection of a poor 
house in Madison County, and also to raise our proportion 
of the money for the erection of the same." 

Appellations, familiar to the past, if not to the rising 
generation, were given some localities ; one of these, in 
District No. 15, bears the cognomen of "Mutton Hill." 
Hon. Gerrit Smith foimerly owned farms in this district, 
where he kept large flocks of sheep. It was insinuated at 
the time, that some of his tenants, in their fondness for 
good mutton, poached (as had the illustrious Shakespeare 
before them,) upon their landlord's flocks ; hence the name 
of Mutton Hill. The "Poor Lot," a tract of land on the 
hill in the same district, was given by Judge Peter Smith 
to the town of Smithfield, for the benefit of her poor. On 
the division of the town, the lot was sold, and the proceeds 
reserved for the benefit of schools. 

Up to 1830, the enterprise of the population was on the 
increase ; also, the ranks of the people furnished many men 
of worth and talent, who have achieved success and won 
honors in public life. The changes which have subse- 
quently transpired in contiguous parts of central New York, 
have, however, in a degree, affected enterprise here. The 
great thoroughfares have enticed the business men to the 
large towns, where the wealth of the country is concen- 
trated. By the opening of the Erie Canal, the Chenango 
Canal and the New York Central Railroad, the bone and 
sinew of the country were drawn to other avenues of labor, 
the result of which became evident in the decrease of pop- 
ulation, visible in every decade from those periods to the 
present time. In 18 lo, the population was undoubtedly 
greater than at the present day. In 1825, there were 1,933 



FENNER. T,6t, 

inhabitants ; in 1830, they had increased to 2,010 ; but the 
census of 1865 gives a population of only 1,387. The town 
of Fenner, we should remark, is not alone in presenting 
such a record, and it does not see^n encouraging, as the ma- 
chinery of society goes on less spirited. Yet all may be 
quite as harmonious, and the mass of the people equally as 
happy. The large farms are growing more handsome in 
their perfected cultivation, and labor-saving machinery un- 
complainingly performs the work of the many. We are 
prone to reflect, however, that inside of the snug farm cot- 
tages of modern days, we do not hear the merry music, nor 
see the cheery faces of large families, such as filled the pa- 
triarchal mansion of fifty years ago. We pause in contem- 
plating this subject, since our business is to record and 
not to moralize, as we came very near doing just at this point. 

Fenner Corners. — This point, near the center of the town, 
appears to have been at first designated as the location of 
the chief village; here the first enterprises of a centralizing 
point began, and would have continued, had there been any 
natural advantages ; but central Fenner being thus ufortu- 
nate, and only adapted (but that pre-eminently) to farming, 
it gradually faded as a business center, when the manufac- 
turing facilities at Perryville began to be developed, and to 
furnish the nucleus of a village. So Perryville came to 
be the village of the town. In the days of the Oneida and 
Cazenovia Turnpike, however, the products of Fenner, 
transported over that once busy thoroughfare, were chiefly 
gathered in from the various avenues to the " Corners," 
which made it, for a time, a lively little village. It had its 
two taverns, a store, a post-office, various mechanics and a 
church. 

Chittenango Falls is a hamlet situated on the line between 
this town and Cazenovia. It contains a post-office, store, 
hotel and church. It is not an early built place of business, 
the land where it stands having been formerly the farm of 
Mr. Asaph Hummiston, 



364 MADISON COUNTY. 

PERRYVILLE 

Has derived its advantages from the water power of the 
Canaseraga. Although the stream here is not large, yet it 
has a fine fall, and affords several mill sites. As late as 

18 10, the site of the village was a hemlock wilderness. At 
about that date, a Mr. Card put up a small grist mill, with 
one run of stone ; it was situated on nearly the same site 
now occupied by the mill of Edwin Crosby. Enoch Dyke- 
man succeeded Card, and was for many years engaged in 
the business. About 1835, he built the present mill. In 

181 1, Abram Wendell built the saw mill now owned by Eli 
Ransom, situated a short distance above the falls. Tyre & 
Cole opened a store here about 181 1; it was located near 
the bridge ; it has been converted into a dwelling-house, 
and is now owned by James Robie. Enoch Dykeman built 
the first tavern ; the same building has since been re-con- 
structed, and is now a pleasant dwelling-house, owned by 
Edwin Hamlin. The present tavern was built by Timothy 
Jenkins, from thirty-five to forty years ago. Alpheus Britt 
built up the clothing works ; this was for many years one 
of the prosperous concerns of the village. A Mr. Glass 
built a small tannery quite early. In 18 17, Oren S. Avery, 
from Morrisville, purchased this tannery of Glass. Mr. 
Avery was an active business man ; everything in his hands 
flourished, and his prosperity increased. He built, in addi- 
tion, a larger tannery and a boot and shoe shop, in both of 
which many workmen were employed. About 1830, Eli 
Blakeslee erected a large wagon shop, and afterwards added 
several other shops, which were demanded by his increased 
business in the manufacture of vehicles. The Episcopal 
Church, the main religious society of the place, built a neat 
and somewhat expensive house of worship. Thrift and en- 
terprise were manifest on the farms about the village ; in 
the school, the church, the workshop, progress was the rule. 
Thus, the generations rising to fill the place of their fathers, 
enjoyed fair facilities to fit them for their several spheres of 



FENNER. ' 36^ 

usefulness. But, in 1836, there was a change; Oren S. 
Avery died, and the manufactories, wiLh which he had been 
connected, were closed ; Eli Blakeslee, the next heaviest 
dealer, failed the same year, and then the controlling enter- 
prises of Perryville were prostrate ; the place had received 
a blow Irom which it was slow in recovering ; indeed, it has 
never regained its former business status. 

Perryville has, at the present day, two churches, a flour- 
ing mill, two saw mills, one tavern, two stores and a num- 
ber of shops. The C. & C. Railroad has a depot here. One 
of the chief attractions of the vicinity is the falls, a descrip- 
tion of which has already been given. 

The pleasant Perryville Cemetery is a place of solemn 
memories and tender interest, for here repose many repre- 
sentatives of Fenner's most prominent families of the days 
long past. It was laid out about 1818. Annis Blakeslee, 
wife of Asa Blakeslee, Vv^as the first one buried here ; all 
about her tomb are sleeping many of the once numerous 
Blakeslee family. Here, too, are the graves of the Ehles, 
the Storms, the Lansings, the Ransoms, the Colgroves 
and the Hamlin families, some of whose marble head-stones 
tell us that the sleepers were of the generation that popu- 
lated these hills and redeemed the broad farms from the wil- 
derness, and who toiled hard and patiently that the succeed- 
ing generations might " come up higher." Here is the nar- 
row home of Alpheus Britt and Nancy, his wife ; there 
repose the remains of Othniel Brainard; yonder rests the 
dust of Leverett Baldwin, Jacob Gillett, Czar Dykeman 
and others, whose influence ceased not when their voices 
were stilled in death ; and in a conspicuous place rises the 
noble monument, reared by the hands of ailection to the 
memory of Oren S. Avery, who was born in 1794, and died 
August, 1836. 

The first burial ground in this part of the town is situated 
about a mile west of Perryville, on the road to Cazenovia ; 
in this, many of the first settlers were interred, some of 



366 MADISON COUNTY. 

whose remains have been removed to the village Cem- 
etery. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Joel Downer came to New Petersburgh in 1801. He 
was a native of Pownell, Vermont, born in 1780. That he 
was of the old revolutionary stock, his geneological record 
proves, as we find that his father, John Downer, was one 
of the heroic command of Gen. Stark, who fought the battle 
of Bennington in 1777. He purchased his homestead in 
Fenner, at Mr. Smith's auction, in Utica, in 1802. It was 
located on Lot M, on the old Oneida Turnpike, about two 
miles west of Peterboro. Here he commenced his married 
life, for we find it recorded that he was married on the day 
of the great eclipse in 1806, to Miss Lovina Risley, daugh- 
ter of Stephen Risley, one of the early settlers of Smith- 
field. Here, with industry, they prospered ; the wilderness 
gradually disappeared and golden harvests waved in its 
stead ; the cumbrous log barn of the first few years was su- 
perseded by a good frame one, and the log cabin by a frame 
house of some pretentions. Mr. Downer was notably ahead 
cf his neighbors in the matter of 'building, and as his school 
district (No. 9,) was an enterprising neighborhood, this get- 
ting up in the world was somewhat envied. Mrs. Downer 
has often mentioned a circumstance illustrating the ideas of 
that day. Soon after their house was built, one of her pious 
sisters in the church visited her for the purpose of giving 
her caution against undue pride, on account of great worldly 
prosperity ! Yet this house, so enviously regarded, is de- 
scribed as being very plain, boarded, clapboard fashion, with 
lumber a foot wide and an inch thick, doors and casings of 
the plainest style and manufacture, and at the time of this 
sisterly visit, was not even lathed and plastered ! In time, 
however, it was well ceiled. The first children born in 
school district No. 9, were twin children of Mr. and Mrs. 
Joel Downer ; these were Mr. Wm. B. Downer and his sister 
Mrs. Mary E. Johnson. Joel Downer spent the rest of his 



FENNER. 367 

life in Fenner, dying in 1864, at the ripe age of eighty-four 
years. His wife, Lovina, survived him about two years, 
passing away September 17, 1866, in the eighty-first year 
of her age. We subjoin the following obituary notice from 
the Oneida Dispatch : 

" DOWNER— In Oroville, March 23, 1867, Joel G. Downer, a na- 
tive of New York, aged 60 years. 

Mr. D. was a pioneer citizen of Oroville. He emigrated from 
the State of New York, and, during a long residence in Butte 
county, filled various positions of public trust. He was tor a 
long time the leading spirit of the party, and by his energy and 
perseverance contributed largely to its success. — Oroville (Cal.J 
Ex. 

The subject of the above notice was born at the residence of 
his father, the late Joel Downer, in Fenner, Feb. 8, 1807. Soon 
after attaining his majority he located at Bridgeport, in this 
county, and for many years engaged in legal and mercantile 
pursuits, besides filling various offices by the favor of his fellow- 
citizens. Some twenty years since he emigrated to California, 
where he has since resided. Trained in the school of Jefferson- 
ian Democracy, Mr. D. believed in the equal rights of all men, 
" To life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and evinced his 
faith by his works. His second son, Hiram K. Downer, was one 
of the victims of the slaveholders' rebellion, dying while a pris- 
oner to the rebels, of wounds received in the battle of the Wil- 
derness. A younger son is now in the army, in Arizona Terri- 
tory, ready to sufter, and if needs be, to die for his country. Mr. 
D. leaves a widov/ and five children to mourn his death." 

Robert Stewart, one of the Scotch settlers, was a deacon 
cf the Presbyterian Church in Peterboro. He was firm in 
the faith, as set forth by John Knox, his illustrious country- 
man, in the days of " aitld lang syne." He was a man re- 
spected by all who knew him. When nearly four score 
years of age, a melancholy accident terminated his earthly 
pilgrimage. 

Alexander F. Douglass, also a native of Scotland, came 
to this country with his parents at an early day. The fam- 
ily settled in Lenox where they cleared a farm. Mr. Doug- 
lass reared a large family in Lenox, and continued to reside 
there till all his children, but one, were married and settled 
in life, when he sold and purchased in Fenner. An obit- 



368 MADISON COUNTY. 

uary before us, but without date, states that he was born in 
Scotland, December 5, 1807; tliat he was an active and 
valued member of the M. E Church, and a worthy citizen. 
He resided six years in Fenner and there died the death of 
a christian, aged sixty-three years. 

James Cameron, another of the company of emigrants in 
whose veins flowed the pure blood of Scotland, settled ni 
Fenner, and died there at an advanced age. Scottish intel- 
lect, engrafted upon American soil, loses none of its vigor 
in the latest descendants of these and other early Scotch 
settlers of the town of Fenner. 

Eli Barber came to this town when it was included in the 
town of Cazenovia, in the year 1799, and located on Lot 
23. He was born in Worcester County, Mass., in 1775. 

" When a lad of fifteen or sixteen, a family in his neighbor- 
hood were preparing to emigrate to this State, and he engaged 
to come on with them, working for his board by driving the 
oxen. He came to Oneida Co., and lived in Paris, Sangerfield 
and vicinit}', till 1799, clearing some of the land where the vil- 
lage of Waterville now stands. He was married Marcii 14, 
1799, to Lovina Thompson, a native of his own native town, • 
whose parents had emigrated to and settled in Madison. They 
immediately came on to their wilderness home in Fenner, he 
having previously bought izi.2 acres on Lot 23, of Peter Smith, 
made a clearing, and built a log house. Here he lived fifty-two 
years, in the meantime clearing up and improving his farm, 
erecting fine buildings, &c. He resided ten years also in 
Cazenovia village, but at last returned to the old familiar 
ground to die. He passed away Nov. 30, 1869, at the great 
age of 95 years, three years after the decease of his wife. His 
son, Darlin Barber, succeeds to the old homestead."* 

Mr. and Mrs. Eli Barber were converted in 1801, united 

with the Fenner Baptist Church, and lived the life of 

exemplary christians to the close of their sixty years of 

married life. They had a family of fourteen children, 

seven only of whom lived ; Mr. Darlin Barber and Mrs. 

Amanda Hamlin, are the only two of those living in town. 

Rev. Eli Barber, present pastor of the Baptist Church in 



■'•■ From his obituary. 



FENNER. 



369 



Fenner, is, however, a grandson. In the early days Mr. 
Barber erected one of the first potasheries of this section 
which for many years proved a vahiable institution to the 
settlers. 

David Cook came from Rhode Island and settled one 
fourth of a mile north of Fenner Corners ; here he kept the 
first tavern opened in town. He was an energetic, public 
spirited and influential man ; was a Justice of the Peace 
some years, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 
1806, which office he also held for a number of years. 
His two sons, — David jr. and Reuben Cook,— were sub- 
stantial farmers and respected citizens of Fenner, and 
were often honored with places of public trust ; the former 
was for many years postmaster ; the latter lived on the 
homestead many years, then removed to Nelson, where he 
died. 

Daniel M. Gillett, from Lime, Conn., was an early settler, 
locating a half mile east of the Corners. Although a 
farmer and prosperous us such, he built and operated a 
potashery and was for a time associated with his brother, 
Martin Gillett, in a store, in Dist. No. 5. He was noted 
for his activity, public spirit and business ability, and 
stood high in community for his integrity and strict moral 
character. He served as Justice of the Peace several 
years, was Supervisor repeatedly, and Member of Assembly 
two terms. His son, D. Miner Gillett, is a resident of this 
town. A daughter married Jarius Munger, Esq., a lawyer 
of Camden, Oneida County. 

From 1820 to 1840, inclusive, the town of Fenner in- 
cluded many men of superior mind and marked character ; 
such were Dr. Sylvanus Guernsey, Oren S. Avery, Judge 
Czar Dykeman, Asa Dana, Esq., Judge Sardis Dana and 
Hon. Federal Dana. 

Dr. Guernsey was a leading physician, a true scholar and 
a christian gentleman. Several young men of the town, 
contemplating a scholastic education, took their preparatory 



370 



MADISON COUNTY, 



course with him ; by his high standard of honor and morals 
were their plastic minds moulded. Dr. Guernsey's strict 
fidelity to moral and christian principles is illustrated by 
the fact that he would never perform any work pertaining 
to his profession on the Sabbath, except to respond to calls 
in critical cases, and then made no charge therefor. 

Or'^n S. Avery's name is intimately blended with the 
annals of those years, especially with the business interests 
and the general prosperity of Perryville ; his public spirit 
was most exemplary. Every worthy man, in his hour of 
need, knew that Oren S. Avery was his friend ; his noble 
heart and generous hand aided all worthy objects. In his 
death, Perryville sustained a great loss ; and it is no marvel 
that his memory is honored and cherished to this day by 
the good people of that village. 

Judge Czar Dykeman was one of the Judges of the Court 
of Common Pleas, which post he filled many years. 

Mr. Asa Dana was an early settler, and one of those tal- 
ented and influential spirits who figured largely in all that 
pertained to the welfare of his section. His name appears 
often in the record of town officers. He was a man of high 
integrity, of clear judgment and practical wisdom. He 
purchased in the south part of Fenner (then Cazenovia,) in 
the year 1800. The hardships of a pioneer hfe had but the 
effect to call into activity the sterling virtues of patient en- 
durance and persevering effort for success in pursuit of the 
right. He had been a soldier in the revolutionary war, and 
received a pension until his death, which occurred in 1845, 
at the ripe age of ninety-one years. He uniformly merited 
and enjoyed the fullest confidence of the community as an 
upright, worthy citizen and sincere christian. Rev. Asa 
Mahan, who was the first President of Oberlin College, 
Ohio, and of late President of Adrian College, Mich., is a 
son of his oldest daughter. The sons of Mr. Dana were 
mostly farmers. The youngest, Lorenzo, was for many 
years a prominent and successful physician in Alleghany 



FENNER. 



Z7^ 



County, N. Y., and was two or three times elected to the 
Legislature, enjoying, from first to last, the confidence of 
his fellow citizens. He died in 1869, at the age of seventy- 
two, leaving Federal Dana as the sole survivor of the six 
sons and three daughters of Asa Dana, the pioneer. 

Federal Dana was born in the year of the first meeting 
of Congress, under the Federal Constitution, and was 
named in honor of that instrument. For many years he 
was a practical surveyor, having for his motto, " impartiality 
and accuracy." The most of the time during the last twenty 
years of his residence in Fenner, he was one of the Justices 
of the Peace, and, for two or three terms, a Justice of Ses- 
sions. As a Justice, he rarely had a case come to trial, 
almost always persuading the parties to make an amicable 
settlement between themselves. His public spirit and good 
abilities were marked aids to the general progress around 
him. We learn that Hon. Federal Dana is still (1871,) liv- 
ing, an honored and respected citizen of East Avon, Liv- 
ingston County, N. Y. Sardis Dana, son of Asa Dana, was 
at one time one of the associate Judges of the County. He 
was a prominent business man, and always enjoyed the fullest 
confidence of his fellow citizens. During his life, nearly or 
quite all of the honors within the gift of his townsmen, were 
conferred upon him. He was also a member of the Legis- 
lature one term. For many years he was widely useful and 
popular as a surveyor. L. D. Dana, his son, is cashier of 
the National Bank at Morrisville. 

Charles S. Hyatt was a successful farmer of this town. 
He was frequently honored with town offices, although he 
did not aspire to position. His large family are all of them 
prosperous farmers, and settled near the center of the town. 
George W. Hyatt, his youngest brother, residing west of 
Fenner Corners, is the owner of one of the handsomest 
farms in Fenner. Francis A. Hyatt, of Nelson Flatts, is 
nephew of Charles S. Hyatt. David Hess was a prominent 
agriculturist. Supervisor of the town, and for several terms 



372 



MADISON COUNTY. 



Justice of the Peace, Col. Needham we note as another 
prominent man of the early days, popular as Supervisor 
and as the incumbent of various other town offices. Lewis 
Keeler was another useful and influential citizen, possessing 
excellent capacity for business. He was School Commis- 
sioner, and held other offices. Nathaniel Hazleton was 
also a prominent citizen some forty years ago ; was Super- 
visor and Justice of the Peace many years. D. Eralziman 
Haskell, now (1871,) a merchant of Cazenovia, also took an 
active part in town affairs ior many years ; he served the 
people as Justice of the Peace, and as town Superintendent 
of Common Schools, and was some years since Clerk of the 
Board of Supervisors. Enos Cushing settled in this town 
early and continued to be a resident about sixty years. For 
more than fifty years he was a surveyor. He was widely 
known and as widely respected. Chauncey Hunger was 
one of the earliest settlers, and one of the prominent men 
of the days long gone by. He was living in Fenner in 1871, 
at an advanced age. Col. Stafford was another early settler 
of Fenner, who attained to prominence and usefulness. He 
still resides in town. 

DR. DANIEL PRATT 

Was born in Belchertown, Mass., December 26, 1779. At 
the age of twenty-one he came west to New York State and 
remained three years. During this time he attended Clin- 
ton Academy and studied medicine with Dr. Greenly, at 
Hamilton, and with his brother, Dr. James Pratt, at Log- 
City. On his return to Belchertown at the expiration of 
the three years, he took a somewhat novel way of starting 
himself in the world : His father furnished him with a 
quantity of iron rods, and he set himself to work and made 
1,400 wrought nails, with which he bought his first stock of 
medicines valued at $34. He then went to the State of 
Maine, in 1804, being then twenty-four years of age, where 
he commenced the practice of medicine and remained ten 
years. In i8o8, he married Mrs, Dolly Moody, widow of 



FENNER. 373 

Dr. Moody of Vasselboro. This lady had two children by 
her first marriage ; Eliza, who married Aurelius Dykeman 
of Madison County, in 1817, and Mary Ann, who married 
in 1825, Col. Palmer Baldwin, an honored citizen of Nelson 
Flats. In the war of 18 12, Dr. Pratt was appointed Sur- 
geon in the U. S. army and served for a time. In 18 14, he 
removed to Fenner and purchased the farm of Dr. Sherman, 
two miles southeast of Perryville, and cultivated it in con- 
nection with his extensive practice. He was an excellent 
physician. He took a prominent part in politics during the 
Anti-Masonic excitement, and wrote much against secret 
societies, holding that their influence politically was danger- 
ous. He was familiar with statutory law, was for some 
years a Justice of the Peace, and School Commissioner a 
considerable time, always taking a lively interest in com- 
mon school education. In 1831, he joined the Baptist 
Church in Fenner, being baptized by Elder S. Gilbert. As 
the infirmities of age advanced, preventing the active duties 
of his profession, he turned his attention more than form- 
erly to farming. He died November 18, 1864, at the ripe 
age of eighty-four years, ten months and twenty-two days. 
The " Great Harvester " found him with every faculty fully 
matured and unimpaired. The many excellent qualities 
which distinguished him and his most worthy compan- 
ion, live in their children, reared on that thrifty Fenner 
farm. (Note k) 

CHURCHES. 

Fenner Baptist Church, was organized August 23, 1801. 
Elder Nathan Baker was first pastor. The first Deacons 
were Ephraim Munger and Roswell Glass. Meetings were 
held in school houses and dwellings in different parts of the 
town. In 1 8 17, a revival occurred in which 10 1 persons 
were baptized. In 1820, the meeting house at Fenner 
Corners was built. At different periods this church has 
borne the name successively of, " Third Baptist Church of 
Cazenovia," and " Baptist Church of Smithfield." 



MADISON COUNTY. 



374 

The Protestant Episcopal Church of Perry ville was founded 
in i8i6. It was then a branch of Paris Hill Church. Re- 
ligious services were held from house to house at first. 
Lyman Blakeslee was licensed Lay Reader by Bishop Ho- 
bart, and in the absence of pastors conducted services. In 
1832, while Rev. Solomon Northrup was pastor, the house 
of worship was built at a cost of $2,500. 

Methodist Episcopal Church of Perryville. The first Meth- 
odist Class was formed about 18 18, first Class Leader, 
Charles Blakeslee. First Methodist Sabbath School was 
formed in 18 19, which has continued up to the present 
time. The meeting house was built in 1839. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Chittenango Falls, was 
organized June 4, 1844. The first pastor was Rev. J. Wat- 
son, The house of worship was built in 1844. 



GEORGETOWN. 375 



CH AFTER VIII, 



GEORGETOWN. 

Boundaries. — Geography. — Township No. 6. — First Settler.— 
Sketch of the Homes of other Pioneers. — Louis Anathe Mul- 
ler. — Muller Hill, and its Village and Enterprises. — Strange 
Oblivion over the Family of Muller. — History of the Estate to 
the Present Time. — Georgetown Village and its Enterprises. 
— First Town Officers. — Prominent Men. — Early Church in 
the North Part of the Town. — Biographical Sketch of Dr. 
W hitmore. — Churches. 

Georgetown was formed from DeRuyter, April 7, 1815. 
It is one of the southern towns of the County and is bounded 
north by Nelson, east by Lebanon, south by Chenango 
County and west by DeRuyter. 

Thomas Ludlow, jr., of New York City, received the 
patent for the Sixth Township in the " Clinton Purchase," 
on the 2d day of March, 1793. This patent, according to 
the statement of the Surveyor-General, contained 24,384 
acres of land. 

Previous to 1791, this township formed a part of the old 
and indefinitely bounded town of Whitestown, Montgomery 
County, but in this year, Herkimer was formed from Mont- 
gomery County, and in 1792, Whitestown was divided and 
the town of Paris was erected, which embraced a large por- 
tion of Madison County, including all those of the " Che- 
nango Twenty Towns " which lay in its territory. There- 
fore at the time of Mr. Ludlow's purchase, Georgetown lay 
within the boundary of Paris, Herkimer County. Subse- 



1^6 MADISON COUNTY. 

quently, in the formation of new towns, it became success- 
ively a part of Cazenovia and DeRuyter, and only received 
its name of Georgetown in 1815. 

Mr. Ludlow caused this town to be again surveyed in 
1802, and its first settlement was made in 1803, by Mr. 
Ezra Sexton, from Litchfield, Connecticut. 

Georgetown was at this period one unbroken forest, the 
hights of her hills crowned with large, straight hemlocks, 
sombre looking as they reared their dark forms above the 
spreading beech, her valleys and plateaus presenting a fine 
sweep of noble sugar maples, while herswamps were gloomy 
with their magnificent pines, whose stately forms towered 
far upward — ancient monarchs of the forest, reigning with 
undisputed sway over the mass of tangled, struggling foliage 
beneath them. 

The Otselic, with its branches, coursed through the town 
from north to south, and formed a stream of much greater 
power than it now presents. The pretty Indian name, 
" Otselic," signifies " Plum Creek." When this town was 
first settled, wild plums of every variety abounded. There 
were many species of thorn plums of different colors, sweet 
and sour, and larger than can now be found. All were very 
good as fruit food ; they were used for sauce, made into 
pies, and preserved by drying for winter use. 

The eastern branch of the Otselic, which was in the early 
days the largest, had its source in Hatch's Lake ; but when 
that lake was converted into a feeder for the Chenango 
Canal in 1836, the supply was cut off, and this branch now 
only drains the swamp land of Lots No. 10, 11 and 12. 
The second branch has its rise in springs in the southern 
border of Nelson, south of Erieville ; and the third, which 
unites with the main stream at the village, rises in the 
northwest corner of the town and is fed by numerous rivu- 
lets from the lofty hillsides. A fourth stream rises among 
the " Muller lands" and joins the main Otselic, south of the 
village. The borders of these branches were extremely 



GEORGETOWN. 377 

marshy and abounded in a heavy growth of lowland shrubs. 
Contiguous to these marshes, and extending back towards 
the hills, were many handsome plateaus quite free from 
dampness, being healthy locations, where the earliest set- 
tlers planted their homes. Back of these plateaus were the 
two lines of ridges which traverse this town from north to 
south, and which are from five to six hundred feet above the 
valley. 

Two roads, were laid out at an early day, which connected 
the projected settlements of Georgetown with settlements 
in adjoining towns. One of them commenced at the cor- 
ner of Lot 58, about a mile and a half above Georgetown 
village, and passing east connected with the Lebanon 
settlement, and is the present road passing through that 
district. Here, on Lot 58, near the bright, murmuring 
waters of the Otselic, Mr. Sexton cut the first tree, and 
commenced, on the 4th day of July, 1803, the first dwelling 
in the town of Georgetown. This most beautiful location 
is now the home of J. B. Wagoner and was for many years 
the homestead of his father, John B. Wagoner, Esq., now of 
Morrisville. Mr. Sexton was soon established with his 
family in the new domicil. The wide, wide wilderness was 
all around them, though the Lebanon settlers were not so 
very far off. Farther east, upon the new road leading to 
Lebanon, Mr. Sexton the next year cleared ten acres, 
which was the first lot cleared of the primeval forest in 
town. This was across the road from the present home of 
Horace Hawks, Esq. 

The other road, opened about the same time, passed in a 
northerly and southerly course through the town, and most 
of the way parallel with the Otselic. This road connected 
with the settlements of Nelson, commencing at a point on 
the then well traveled route from Eaton to Erieville, near 
the well-known tavern of Eldad Richardson on Eagle Hill, 
and became the present road passing through the Wells' 
district in Nelson, entering Georgetown near the north-east 



3/8 MADISON COUNTY. 

corner of Lot No. 9, passing over Lots 22 and 34, where 
there is now no road nor has been for many a year, and 
entering the present stage route between Eaton and 
Georgetown on the west side of Lot 35, near the dwelUng 
house upon this lot. From thence the road passed south, 
and is the present OtseHc valley road. Upon these routes 
the first settlers built their dwellings. The year 1804, 
brought the pioneers John C. Payne, Bethel Hurd, Josiah 
Bishop and Eleazer Hunt. John C. Payne took up Lot 115, 
and located his residence where Mr. Loren Brown resides. 
He became the first inn-keeper of the town. The same 
year Apollos Drake and Olmstead Brown came in and 
bought of Mr. Payne ; Drake fifty acres on one side of his 
Lot, and Brown the same on the other. Mr. Drake however 
did not settle till the next year. Bethel Hurd located on 
Lot No. 69, near where the cheese factory of Mr. Benjamin 
Fletcher is at present (1871,) situated. The first religious 
services held in town were at his house, and were conducted 
by Mr. Ezra Sexton. The first store in town was kept by 
a Mr. Truesdale in Bethel Hurd's house. Benjamin, Daniel, 
Ezra, David and Stephen, sons of Bethel Hurd, were for 
years settled on farms adjoining each other on this street. 
David, Benjamin and Stephen, resided on their farms till 
within a few years.* Elijah and Detus Olmstead were the 
sons of Elder Olmstead, of Schodack, Rensselaer County, 
and were of the race of the Olmsteads of Hamilton. 
They did not long reside here ; sickness and death in their 
families caused them to remove. Josiah Purdy bought out 
Elijah Olmstead, his location being where Wm. F. Drake 
now resides. Mr. Purdy was a blacksmith by trade. He 
was a man of good judgment and was frequently con- 
sulted in law matters ; also, issues were often joined before 
him as umpire or arbitrator. He cleared up this farm, 

Died, in Georgetown, June 8th, 1866, Dea. Benjamin Hurd, aged 79 years; 
also, died in Warsaw, Sept. 15th, 1867, Dea. Stephen Hurd, formerly of Madison 
County, aged "]% years. 



GEORGETOWN. 379 

reared a family here, and both himself and wife lived to 
spend many years in the enjoyment of the fruits of their 
labor. They both died upon this homestead. Eleazer 
Hunt was from Stafford, Tolland Co., Conn. He located at 
the village, and was by trade both a carpenter and cabinet 
maker. In 1805, Apollos Drake, Calvin Cross, Joseph P. 
Harrison, Matthew Hollenbeck, Berry Carter, Mitchell 
Atwood and William Payne came and settled. Drake was 
from Westford, Otsego Co. He moved early in the spring 
and settled immediately into house keeping in the log 
house he had built the year previous, when he took up his 
farm. On the spot where he built his primitive dwelling 
stands the house of his son, Theron O. Drake, the home- 
stead having never passed from the family. In this pres- 
ent dwelling the pioneer and his wife both died; the wife 
Aurilla in 1832, and the aged settler in 1838. Mr. Drake 
was a prominent man in the new country, being often 
chosen to office in town. When Georgetown was a part of 
DeRuyter, he was Constable and Collector, a position of 
much importance at that day in the undivided territory. 
Theron O. Drake, the son who succeeded to the homestead, 
also succeeded to places of trust in town matters. Wm. F. 
Drake and T. Allen Drake, sons of the latter, are residents 
of the same part of the town. 

Calvin Cross came at an early day and settled on the 
road leading west from the village. He was originally from 
Bennington, Vt., but came here from Hamilton. Mr. Cross 
was an expert hunter — was known as such in Hamilton 
when that town was a wilderness. While a resident there, 
he caught a wolf in a trap he had set in the woods. He 
followed the tracks of the animal, which had dragged off 
his trap, and on coming up with it, and finding it to be 
a veritable wolf, whipped and beat the brute until it gave 
up, when he secured it by placing the trap upon its nose, 
and in this condition led it into the streets of Payne's Set- 
tlement, (Hamilton,) to the wonder and astonishment of the 



380 MADISON COUNTY. 

denizens of the embryo village. Mr. Cross* and his brother 
killed the last bear known in Georgetown. They had 
tracked the beast to his hiding place in the woods, south- 
west of the village, where they found him under the roots 
of an upturned tree, and had quite an adventure in killing 
him. 

Joseph P. Harrison settled on Lot No. 57. He had three 
sons, Daniel, Bradford and Luther, who, as they came to 
manhood, located around him. Daniel resides on the home- 
stead, and is now the only son of Joseph Harrison remain- 
ing in town.: 

Berry Carter settled in the south part of the town, but 
did not remain long a resident. He is, at a later date, re- 
corded as living in Eaton. Wheeler Dryer, the oldest 
man now living in town, also located in the south part. 

Matthew Hollenbeck, from Litchfield, Conn., located on 
the road leading to Lebanon, east of Mr. Sexton. His 
original log house stood a few rods from the residence of 
Mr. Horace Hawks. Near the identical spot is a barn be- 
longing to Mr. Hawks, which was built by Matthew Hollen- 
beck. 

Mitchell Atwood located on Lot No. 46, and here built 
the second saw mill in town in 1806. This mill received 
the two most easterly branches of the Otselic. At that day 

*«'CROSS.— In the town of Eaton, February 23d, 1868, Mr. Calvin Cross, 
aged 87 years. 

" The deceased was born at Bennington, Vt., from which he emigrated when 
but fourteen years old, to what is now Hamilton village. At the time of his ar- 
rival, there was only one house where the large village of Hamilton is now located. 
He remained there a few years, and then removed to Georgetown, where he has 
remained until within a few months previous to his death. He was one of the first 
settlers of the county, and often has the writer heard him tell of the wild and stir- 
ring scenes in which he was a prominent actor — his enlistment in the army in the 
war of 1812 — march to Sackett's Harbor — its attempted capture by the British — 
bear and deer hunts in the extensive forests in and about Georgetown, and other in- 
cidents of his early life. He helped build the Baptist Church in Georgetown, and 
was a member of that Society thirty-six years. Father Cross was characterized for 
untiring industry and energy, for which his robust constitution eminently fitted him. 
His friendly and social qualities made him a favorite among a numerous class of ac- 
quaintances, whose love and esteem he retained through life, and who will sadly 
miss the cheerful, intelligent, kind old friend and devoted father in Israel." 



GEORGETOWN. 38 1 

a fine water power was produced by those streams, and for 
nearly half a century this mill did most worthy service, 
working up nearly all the great forest around it, little by 
little, shaping the great unwieldly logs into material which 
at this day adorns the beautiful valley of the Otselic with ... 
attractive, pleasant-looking farm houses. The old saw mill^'^, 
however, has done its work, and to-day, nothing but the 
ruins of its foundation mark the spot. Its aged owner still 
lives upon the same spot where he first located, and in the 
house of his own building, where in his declining years he 
is not compelled, like many, to witness alien hands tilling 
the soil, and utterly changing the aspect of the home where 
he has spent the most of his long life, but is passing away 
his existence in the family of his son-in-law, Mr. Sanford, 
who resides with him. 

Wra. Payne's family were from Connecticut, and were 
connected with the Paynes who were the pioneers of Ham- 
ilton. Wm. Payne took up Lots 34 and 35, and built his 
first log house very near where stands the barn of the hand- 
somely improved farm of Lot 35. In 1805, the eldest child 
of Wm. Payne, Weston Payne, was born, which was the 
first birth in town. 

In consequence of the isolated situation of many of the 
pioneers, great inconveniences were often felt, and some- 
times positive suffering. Mrs. Payne has often narrated in- 
stances of the privations experienced by them during those 
first years, and which increased the homesickness she was 
sufiering, which is often part of the troubles of pioneer life. 
As a consequence of this, Mr. and Mrs. Payne decided to 
visit their native home, which they accomplished, traveling 
the whole distance to Connecticut and back on horseback, 
carrying their child with them. 

Bears, wolves and deer were common then, and the swamp 
usually know as " Fletcher's Swamp," which was very much 
larger then than now, abounded in spvage beasts. Mr. 
Payne once related a circumstance of three Indians who 



382 MADISON COUNTY 

came to his house from their hunting encampment near the 
swamp. One of them was badly injured in an encounter 
with a bear in the swamp. His head was terribly torn and 
mangled. Mr. Payne attended to his wounds, and he re- 
mained a few days, when, somewhat recovered, he again 

*. J'went forth to rejoin his comrades in the hunt. 

', The Jirsl saw mill was built by Eleazer Hunt and Joab 

Bishop in 1805, which stood in the village near where they 
built the grist mill in 1806. Previous to the building of the 
latter, the inhabitants were compelled to get their milling 
done at Leland's in Eaton, making the journey by marked 
trees. When this mill was built there were not inhabitants 
enough in town to raise the frame, and men were called 
from Hamilton, Log City and Lebanon to help. It was at 
this gathering that the village of Georgetown received its 
former, and not yet obsolete, name. One of the men from 
Eaton remarked that the village of his town boasted of three 
log houses, and they had therefore named the place " Log 
City." At this, Apollos Drake broke out with the sudden 
exclamation, " we have three slab covered houses ; this 
must be called " Slab City !" — and so it was called, first for 
a joke; but the name has clung to the village for nearly 
seventy years. This name, however, is of late years grad- 
ually falling into disuse, since "Georgetown" is better 
known abroad. 

Messrs. Hunt & Bishop built their grist mill on the west 
side of the Otselic, and the present one was built entirely 
new on the same side, a little below, (2 rods,) by Mr. Nathan 

- Smith. The saw mill was on the east side of the creek. 
The original mechanic employed to erect the grist mill was 
Mr. Dyer Lamb, whose death occurred recently at the resi- 
dence of his son, Wilson Lamb, in New Woodstock. The 
original mill stones are still in use ; these were made from 
a rock found on Lot No. 113 of this town. Their continu- 
ance in service two-thirds of a century is good evidence 
that they have been and still are efficient. These mills are 
now owned by Messrs. Brown & Torpy. 



GEORGETOWN. 383 

The first tavern in town was kept, as has been stated, by 
John C. Payne. It was located on the site of the present 
hotel. After Payne, John Holmes kept here, then David 
Parker, and after him Alexander McElwain. Part of this 
old hotel has been moved and reorganized, and is now (1871,) 
the dwelling house of Dr. White, on West street. 

Ezra Sexton opened the first burial ground in town on 
his own land, on the death of a young child of his. This 
was the first death in town. His wife next died and was 
buried beside her child. This burial ground is near the 
residence of Horace Hawks, Esq., and the S. & C. railroad 
passes close by. It is a hallowed spot, sacred, especially, to 
the memory of many of the pioneers whose remains repose 
here. The first death in the village was a child of Mr. Par- 
malee, the miller of Hunt & Bishop's mill. This was the 
first burial in the village cemetery. 

Between 1806 and 18 10, many settlers came into town 
and located in different parts. Benjamin Bonney, David 
Parker, Philetus Stewart, Dea. Hanford Nichols, John 
Pritchard, Doctor Smith, Elijah and Alfred Brown, James 
McElwain, Levi Shephard, William Rhoades, Daniel Alvord, 
Capt. Samuel White and Elijah Jackson were the more 
prominent of these. 

Dea. Pitts Lawrence and his wife, (formerly Widow 
Dixon,) who died recently in Cazenovia, aged ninety-four 
years, and also Elijah and David Williams settled in the south 
part of the town. 

Benjamin Bonney located on the Lebanon road. Lot No. 
60. He was from Connecticut and a relative of the Bon- 
neys of Eaton and Hamilton. He cleared up his farm and 
enjoyed the fruits of his labor many years. He died in 
Georgetown in January, 1868, at the ripe age of eighty-six. 

David Parker came from Massachusetts about 1808. A 
Mr. West came with him. The two took up a lot and di- 
vided it. It was located on the Lebanon road. This lot is 
now owned by Robert Utter. 



384 MADISON COUNTY. 

Philetus Stewart also located on the Lebanon road, on 
Lot No. 72, where he converted his portion of the wilder- 
ness into a fine farm. Dea. Hanford Nichols settled on the 
same road in the east part of the town, and there was no 
handsomer farm around than he made of his. Peter Nich- 
ols, brother of the latter, afterwards came, and settled on 
the farm adjoining Mr. Atwood, on the south. His three 
daughters, Maria, Caroline and Betsey, married the three 
Harrisons, Daniel, Bradford and Luther. 

\ John Pritchard came from near Waterbury, Conn., and 
settled in the Atwood neighborhood, near the creek. He 
afterwards bought east of there, near Dea. Nichols, where 
he lived many years, and several of his family of children re- 
main in town. 

Doctor Smith (so named for being the seventh son,) 
located on Lot No. 59. 

Elijah and Alfred Brown settled south of Georgetown 
village on farms now owned by their sons ; James McElwain 
came before 1807, and purchased part of Lot No. 126; 
William Rhoades settled on Lot No. 25, where Rice Wood 
has lived many years ; Levi Shephard located in the same 
neighborhood ; Daniel Alvord, also, settled in the north- 
west part of the town. Capt. Samuel White settled on Lot 
No. 27. Edward Holmes located also in this neighborhood. 
His son, John Holmes, was one of the early settlers of 
Georgetown village. The road early opened from the vil- 
lage to Sheds Corners passed the locations of Rhoades, 
Alvord, Shephard and White. 

Elijah Jackson settled on Lot No. 9, in the north part of 
the town, which is now owned by Jerome Childs. Mem- 
bers of his family reside in town. Amasa Jackson, for years 
a merchant in this and the adjoining town of Nelson, and 
recently removed to Pennsylvania, is one of his sons. 

John Jackson, brother of Elijah, later took up a farm on 
Lot No. 22, and set out an orchard on the road which then 
crossed the lot. When the road was changed, which made 



GEORGETOWN. 385 

this an inland location, he abandoned the spot for one more 
advantageous. Some of the trees of that old orchard are 
still standing and bear fruit. Subsequently this farm was 
owned by Orrin Chase. On the removal of the latter it 
passed to the Fletchers, when it was converted into a pas- 
ture farm. All dwellings and barns ever erected upon it 
have passed away. One passing by its location, on the 
Georgetown and Erieville road, would scarcely believe that 
four dwellings, in which the joys and sorrows of families 
have alternated, have stood in different places upon this 
farm. A bare trace of the last one occupied remains — a 
sunken spot of earth, a few foundation stones around it, a 
cluster of neglected shrubbery planted long ago by fair 
hands ! The S. & C. railroad, following the course of the 
creek through this farm, sweeps away a venerable door 
yard for years trodden by numerous little feet, and brushes 
the very site of the obliterated threshold ! It is thus that 
progress wipes out the traces of our predecessors and anni- 
hilates the old landmarks. 

Ebenezer Hall came about 1812, and took up the farm 
on Lot No. 23, now owned by C. Wagoner, known for many 
years as the Fletcher farm — last owned in that family, we 
believe, by Isaac Fletcher. 

Jesse Jerrold came in 18 16, and located on Lot No. 35. 

John Gibson, from Cornwall, Conn., took up a farm on 
Lot 48, and opened a new road to gain access to his wilder- 
ness home. A Mr. Allen settled on the lot adjoining him, 
which is now known as the Lewis Wickwire farm. The 
Gibson farm is now owned by Frank Wickwire. 

Zadoc Hawks came in 18 16, from Hawley, Franklin Co., 
Mass. He located on lot No. 58. Some of his sons settled 
about him in subsequent years. Two of these sons, only, 
reside in town — Horace and Israel — the former being on 
the homestead farm. 

Nathan Benedict arrived about 181 2, and settled on Lo 
No. 21. About 1823, the county perfected the p mi ive 

Y 



386 MADISON COUNTY. 

road laid out in this section, as it was considered to be a 
more direct route from Slab City to Erieville, thence north 
to Cazenovia, than had heretofore been made. This road 
passed over the " Benedict Hill," at the foot of which Mr. 
B. had built his house. Upon the side hill he planted a 
noble orchard, which for many years yielded as fine fruit 
as the town produced. Travelers found this orchard to be 
a famous stopping place. The same ancient looking dwell- 
ing first built, still stands, and is occupied by his son, N. B, 
Benedict, who succeeded to the homestead. Tne old 
orchsrd is decaying, and the road which in the days of yore 
was so carefully kept at the county's expense, has of late 
years become sadly neglected, and the march of improve- 
ment has opened a more feasible route around the west 
side of the hill. 

Louis Anathe Muller, the distinguished French refugee, 
purchased in the year 1808, of Daniel Ludlow, one of the 
Ludlow heirs, fifteen lots, each lot containing by estimate 
174 acres, 2 roods and 35 perches, the whole amounting to 
about twenty-seven hundred acres of land, located in different 
parts of Georgetown, the most of it lying west of the Otselic. 

After this purchase, between the years 1808 and 1810, 
Mr. Muller engaged in making exchanges of some of the 
disconnected portions of his land, for lots adjoining the 
main body of his estate, which was situated upon the 
elevated ridge through the western part of the town. He 
retained the land lying along the two streams, which rise in 
the westerly and north-westerly parts of the ti>wn and 
empty into the Otselic, one at Georgetown village and the 
other about two miles south. Those streams were at that 
day of no inconsiderable size, and as they rushed down the 
precipitous hills of this then wild region, they presented 
several fine mill privileges. 

Muller saw the advantages these streams afforded, and 
having no knowledge of the value of land only as it was 
well crossed by streams of good water power, determined 



GEORGETOWN. 



58/ 



to draw his estate about them, and make them subservient 
to his interests. The isolated situation seemed suited to 
his wishes, and he forthwith devoted himself to the build- 
ing up of his own village in the wilderness. The wealth 
he brought into this town, it is said, amounted to 1^150,000. 
He made his residence at Hamilton village during the 
progress of the work, which occupied two or three years. 
He brought with him a full retinue of his own countrymen, 
and employed 150 men in his work, many of whom came with 
him, while many of the inhabitants of Georgetown assisted 
him in his enterprise. He paid his workmen in gold and silver. 

Near the center of his estate, about three miles west of 
" Slab City," as Georgetown was then called, three hundred 
acres of land were handsomely cleared, where he erected a 
spacious fortress-like dwelling, 70 feet by 30, constructed 
with massive sills. 

The superstructure was made of hewn cherry timber, 
each slab or bent, about twelve inches thick and eleven 
feet high, framed into the sills, each one raised closely 
against the other, side by side, and dove-tailed into each 
other by strong slats. This impenetrable wall of solid 
timber surrounding the whole building was well covered 
with clapboards, lathed and plastered inside, and most 
carefully finished after a style best fancied by the strange 
builder. The walls present a nice finish, and time has 
proved their durability. The building is of the European 
style of architecture of that time. There were originally 
seven fire places, which were trimmed with black marble. 
It is said that in the cellar an appartment undiscoverable 
by a stranger, whose secret purposes were never told, was 
provided. The rooms were all spacious, and adorned 
with rich mirrors, mahogany and other costly furniture. 
Superb ornaments adorned the halls, and a fine library* 

* The great cupboard which contained his library, remained in the hall many 
years after Muller's final departure from the country, its mammoth size preventing 
its being lemoved. It was finally taken apart, and piece by piece the relic has 
been carried away by curiosity seekers. 



388 MADISON COUNTY, 

ministered to the taste of the cultivated proprietor. Ai 
the style, surroundings and appointments of a French 
nobleman's residence, were arranged here in elaborate detail 
and with studious care. 

Upon the completion of his dwelling he removed his 
family, consisting of a wife and child, from Hamilton, and 
commenced life in their adopted home. The work of 
improving and beautifying this wild, secluded hill, still 
rapidly progressed. Money was lavished and labor applied 
without stint. From the brook which traversed his grounds 
an artificial pond was excavated, which was well stocked 
with fish. Avenues of fine shade trees, maples, poplars, 
&c., were set out, some of which are standing to this dav. 
A fine park was enclosed with a strong high fence or stock- 
ade, in which were kept deer, rabbits and other game. 
Large and convenient outbuildings were erected, whose 
style was in keeping with the taste which planned the 
house. 

At the east of this palatial homestead, which is located 
on Lots No. 75, ^6, 87, ^% and 89, Muller opened a road 
running in nearly a northerly and southerly direction, and 
along the stream which rises upon his estate. Upon 
this stream, about one mile in a south-easterly direction 
from his residence, in School District No. 12, he estab- 
lished his village. On a portion of Lot 126, purchased 
by Muller of James McElwain, were the falls where he 
erected his grist mill, which many years ago fell into ruin, 
while at the present day, scarcely a vestige of its remains 
can be found. 

This village consisted of many dwellings, a store-house 
and two stores. Muller invited artisans and mechanics, 
and gave them advantages to induce them to establish here, 
and thus he built up a considerable trade in many branches. 
John Passon Bronder and Modeste Del Campo, in company, 
kept the first store. A short time after, James C. Winter 
opened another store in competition. These men came with 



GEORGETOWN. 389 

Muller from France. From Mr. Passon Bronder this place 
was called " Bronder Hollow," which name it still retains. 
One of the stores and the storehouse were standing near 
together. The latter is still in existence, having been con- 
verted into a horse barn, belonging to Mr. Samuel Stone, 
who owns a farm here. 

More than two miles east of his residence, on the stream 
which enters Georgetown village from the northwest, on 
the north-east corner of Lot y8, Muller built a saw mill, 
which has now nothing of it remaining. 

When all these were completed, Muller set himself to the 
work of assiduously cultivating and bringing forth the ca- 
pacities of this rather sterile region. He endeavored to ex- 
tend every branch of horticulture, and planted many 
varieties of rich fruits, but for want of knowledge in the 
qualities of the soil, he allowed the gravel and hard-pan re- 
moved in the excavation of the fish pond, to be leveled over 
the grounds, which rendered it unproductive, and horticul- 
ture did not thrive. 

In his family arrangements, peace and contentment 
seemed constant companions, and enlarged benevolence 
marked his conduct ; the sick and the needy found their 
fevered pulses soothed by personal attentions, and the 
means for supplying all reasonable wants. In business mat- 
ters he was prompt and decided, and all persons employed 
by him were early taught to feel his unflinching, unwaver- 
ing spirit ; any indication of laziness, or inattention to du- 
ties required, was followed by prompt dismissal, and never 
could any dismissed person obtain employment from him 
again. He required obedience like a man accustomed to 
military command. He often brought the latest newspapers 
into the field among the workmen, and, gathering them all 
about him, read to them the news of the day ; but the mo- 
ment he observed his audience, or any part of it, inattentive, 
or indulging in any by-play, he immediately folded his 
paper, and commanded them all to their posts of labor. He 



3;^0 MADISON COUNTY. 

was deeply interested in the struggle of the Americans with 
the British in 1812, and warmly commended the valor of 
the Americans in that contest. 

However, among his workmen, he rarely found one to 
whom he freely expressed his opinions on the prominent 
political movements of that day, and to such he studiously 
avoided any mention of his personal knowledge of affairs in 
France, thus concealing the prominent part he had un- 
doubtedly taken in the great movements of his time. He 
most frequently sought the society of one whom he could 
safely trust, when laboring under any excitement which he 
could ill suppress, and which might possibly betray him. 

Chancellor Bierce, who worked for Muller three years, 
was one of the few between whom and his employer there 
grew a strong sympathy, and before whom this retired man 
was less careful. One instance of this nature Mr. Bierce 
relates. 

Agreeably to the laws of the State of New York, Louis 
Anathe Muller, in common with other citizens, had been 
warned out to general training. This order was looked 
upon by Mr. Muller as an insult, and in his excitement he 
made the following noteworthy remarks to Mr. Bierce : — 

" Mr. Bierce, it is too bad! too bad ! Captain Hurd sends 
his corporal to warn me out to train I He ought to be 
ashamed ! I have been General of a Division five years — I 
have signed three treaties " — here, checking himself, he 
simply added, as though striving to suppress feeling : 
" Bierce, it is too bad !" 

Prompted as these words were by the sting of in- 
jured dignity, we have no doubt of their being the truth, 
forced from the secret he so assiduously covered, through 
the unguarded medium of his wounded pride. Conscious- 
ness of this weakness in himself, is the probable cause why 
he sought the presence of Bierce, a man in whom he might 
safely confide. 

Mr. Bierce explained to him, in a satisfactory manner, the 



GEORGETOWN. 39 1 

situation of our military laws, and Muller recognized the 
justness of the proceeding. However, he did not train, on 
that or any subsequent occasion. 

Muller labored under great disadvan':ages in his building 
and farming enterprises, through the want of proper knowl- 
edge. This rendered his work doubly expensive. His 
grist mill had a most peculiar and unhandy arrangement. 
He was often cruelly imposed upon by individuals who en- 
joyed perpetrating jokes, A story is told of his desiring to 
sow an acre of turnips. Not knowing how much seed he 
should want for that amount of ground, he asked a neigh- 
bor, and was informed that it required a bushel. By scour- 
ing the country far and near and purchasing small quanti- 
ties, he succeeded m obtaining three pecks. Soon after he 
was asked by an old farmer what he was going to do with 
so much turnip seed. Muller, in reply, said he wished to 
sow an acre of turnips, when the old man explained to him 
that he had been sadly hoaxed. 

In conversation with him, Mr. Bierce gathered that Mul- 
ler married his wife since coming to America, in New York ; 
that he came in possession of the Georgetown estate in a 
manner not agreeable to his ideas of justice or honor; that 
Ludlow had made friends with him when he first came to 
New York, to whom he lent some ;^30,ooo, by which, in the 
change of circumstances, he was induced to accept this tract 
of land rather than suffer a total loss. 

In his personal appearance, L. A. Muller was a fine-look- 
ing man, about five feet five inches high, well proportioned, 
possessing a distinguished military bearing. His complex- 
ion was of a swarthy color, eyes black and penetrating, 
i^eatures sharply defined, with the forehead of a keen prac- 
tical intellect, perfectly in keeping with the fine face. He 
was apparently about fifty years of age. 

He was not an enthusiast, but a plain practical reasoner ; 
he abhorred mean lying and deception, and considered his 
honor as sacred. He enjoyed the sports of the green and 



393 MADISON COUNTY. 

the chase, and in these amusements his character was con- 
spicuous. On no account would he attack game while at 
rest ; every living thing hagl a chance for escape, but that 
chance was feeble if his fowling piece or rifle was in his 
hand. 

He was very affectionate toward his young wife, Eugenie 
Adaline. She was a fair-haired, beautiful blonde, of only 
medium hight — a graceful and finely-formed, girlish crea- 
ture. Gay and affectionate with her maids, she and her two 
pretty children, Charley and Carlos, (one of whom was born 
in Georgetown, we understand,) were very much beloved by 
all, and were the center of the deepest solicitude on the 
part ot the husband and father. 

A strange, yet powerful apprehension weighed upon his 
mind and tinctured his prominent movements. In com- 
mon with the views of the French nation, he believed the 
powers of Europe would fall before the eagles of Bonaparte ; 
that the haughty lion of Britain would crouch and yield, 
and even the American eagle would fly before the gigantic ' 
power of the Corsican. These apprehensions pressing 
upon him, seemed to find some rehef in the hope that the 
secluded hills of Georgetown would afford him a residence 
unknown and unobserved, and a safe retreat from present 
danger. He avoided mingling in public assemblies, and 
when visiting any more conspicuous town he was attended 
by his most trusty servants. Indeed, this peculiar watch- 
fulness, the construction of his fortress-like dwelling, the se- 
cret room — if such be a fact — all confirm the opinion that 
he feared molestation from the authorities of his native 
country. Two servants, in livery and armed, usually rode 
on either side of him as a body guard. At each saddle 
front, his own and his guards, was a case of pistols and am- 
munition. 

But when Bonaparte made his line of march for Russia, 
Muller one day reading the news, was jubilant. " He shall 
be whipped 1" he exclaimed ; " Bonaparte shall be driven 



GEORGETOWN. 393 

back !" And so it proved. From this time he made his 
arrangements to return to France. When Bonaparte ab- 
dicated, and was sent a prisoner to Elba, Muller, leaving 
his property in the hands of an agent, took his wife and 
children to New York, where he left them and went to 
France. In 1816, he came again to New York to dispose 
of his property here. In his absence strange doings had 
been performed. The person in whom he had placed un- 
limited confidence in the care of his estate, one of the head 
men in the retinue brought here by him, had stripped his 
house of its furniture, sold his stock and every convertible 
object, and left, carrying off the avails. Weeds covered his 
garden walks and roads ; desolation marked every object of 
his former care and pride ; his village was forsaken and the 
mill deserted. In dismay, Mr. Muller viewed the wreck of 
his exile home, and tears at last gave relief to his oppressed 
mind. 

He returned to New York and promptly offered the land 
for any sum. He sold to Mr. Abijah Weston, merchant of 
New York City, for the sum of $10,500, fifteen lots and 
parts of lots, which include those lots of the present Muller 
estate, with house, barn, out-houses, grist mill and saw 
mill. The deed was executed April 9, 18 16, Cornelius 
Bogart and Jacob Radcliffe, attest. 

(Signed) JACOB RADCLIFFE, 

Mayor of the City of New York. 

Mr. Muller then returned to France, it is said, leaving his 
family in New York City. 

One would scarcely suspect so much had been lavished 
in the building up of this lonely place, from what can be 
seen this day. The Muller house, from the durable manner 
in which it is constructed, has withstood the rough treat- 
ment it has received from careless tenants, sent on by its 
subsequent owners. But little is left to suggest where 
stood the park, or where played the waters of the pretty 
fish pond. Long ago the park was demolished, and the 



394 • MADISON COUNTY. 

dam of the pond leveled by some of the numerous occupants 
of the house. The saw mill was demolished or removed 
before 1825, and also the grist mill, while there is nothing 
left of the village to mark the spot, except ' some of the 
buildings, still standing, occupied for other purposes. 

" However, an air of romance has ever since clung around 
that stern and stately mansion, with its lofty poplars and 
spacious green in front, and until recently reports were rife 
and frequently believed that this house was haunted, and its 
occupants have been frightened pale, and some have been 
known to leave, actually believing in the mysterious tales 
ot haunted houses, and that this was one." 

That Louis Anathe Muller was a French nobleman, 
bearing an assumed name, fleeing from the vengeance of Na- 
poleon Bonaparte, cannot be doubted. His family physi- 
cian, a man named Pietrow, who came to Georgetown with 
him, once said, that Muller was " cousin the second to the 
Duke of Angouleme ;" but no evidence was given this by 
the men who heard the assertion made, as Pietrow usually 
carefully avoided disclosing Muller's station or name. 
Dates demolish the idea that Muller was Louis Phillippe. 

There are many evidences that he was a man of superior 
military attainments, and consequently many believe him to 
have been one of the celebrated French Generals loyal to 
the Bourbons, who escaped to America to avoid the impend- 
ing doom of the guillotine. More generally, however, the 
belief prevails in this country that he was a member of the 
Bourbon family, and who, on the abdication of Bonaparte, 
was restored to his royal privileges. 

It is said that Muller's wife, after his departure, assumed 
her maiden name of Stuyvesant, by which her children are 
called. We cannot vouch for the truth of this statement, 
but Madison County records show the following : The 
Mailer property in Georgetown was sold by Abijah Weston 
to Israel Foote in the year 1820, for the sum of ^13,000. 
There was a heavy mortgage upon it. In 1 821, it was sold 



GEORGETOWN. 395 

by Thomas Bolton, Master in Chancery, to the Mechanics 
Bank in the City of New York, and by the directors of this 
Bank to Francis U. Johnson, the deed bearing date the 
13th day of September, 1834, and the same day by him 
granted to Peter Stuyvesant and Robert Van Rensselaer. 
June 15, 1837, Peter Stuyvesant and Julia R, his wife, 
made a gift of those premises, "for and in consideration of 
the sum of one dollar, lawful United States currency," to 
Nicholas William Stuyvesant, Caroline Augusta Stuyvesant 
and Robert Stuyvesant, children of Nicholas William Stuy- 
vesant. If Muller's wife was a Stuyvesant (as report said 
and as is here indicated,) these three children were doubt- 
less Muller's children, adopted by their relative, Nicholas 
William Stuyvesant. 

The three joint owners last named (Caroline Augusta 
having become the wife of Benjamin Onderdonk, of New 
York City,) deeded the estate to Dr. James O. Van Hoven- 
burg, of Kingston, Ulster County, by whom it is now 
owned. The homestead now includes some 600 acres, and 
is occupied by Mr. Van Hovenburg, a relative of the pro- 
prietor. 



We return to the early settlers and incidents connected 
with their pioneer life, as given by the few survivors : — 

There was a kindness and sympathy among the inhabi- 
tants in those sparse settlements, which was engendered by 
their common necessities. Generosity was encouraged 
everywhere, and exhibitions of meanness were despised and 
rebuked in some manner. Each one seemed ready to help 
the other, in any emergency, to the extent of his ability. It 
is told, however, of a certain man, who came in very early 
and settled in the south part of the town, who did not an- 
swer to the qualities we have named as ruling among the 
people. He had more than the average share of riches, and 
felt his consequence. Some time after his arrival, a woman 
died in the neighborhood on the east side of the Otselic, 



3.96 MADISON COUNTY. 

and on her burial was taken to the grave-yard at Slab City. 
This man had, a short time before, purchased a wagon — a 
large two-horse lumber wagon, the first that came into town 
— and he was requested to lend it to bear the remains of 
the deceased to the grave. This he decidedly refused to 
do, adding that if " he lent his wagon to one he would have 
to to another, and he might keep on lending it till it was 
all wore out !" This seemed all the more inhuman from 
the fact that the Otselic then had no bridge across it, and 
the men bearing the bier were obliged to wade through the 
stream with their burden. This man also possessed the 
first grindstone in the neighborhood, and used to take off" 
the handle and hide it, lest some neighbor should ask the 
use of the stone, or obtain its use otherwise. These are 
only two of the many instances of his meanness, which 
caused him to be so heartily despised by his neighbors, that 
he was at last glad to leave them and the country. 

Before much grain was raised, game and fish formed part 
of the staple food. There was no fruit, except berries and 
wild plums, both of which were gathered and used freely. 
Sometimes bread, pies, and other edibles, were exchanged 
for apples, which were brought along by the Indians when 
they journeyed through here on their autumnal hunting 
tours south. Fish were plenty in the OtseUc, and it was 
fine amusement catching fish at Hatch's saw mill, at the 
outlet of the lake, where they were abundant at certain sea- 
sons. A journey to Leland's grist mill in the spring time 
often resulted in a generous mess of shad caught from the 
Chenango. At the period when there were no obstructions 
on this river, from the ocean to its head waters in Leland's 
Ponds, shad and other ocean fish came up annually, and 
were caught in abundance. After the construction of dams, 
the supply of these soon failed. 

Georgetown forests made fine hunting grounds in the 
early days. Deer were quite common. One circumstance 
is noteworthy : — Two young men, Isaac Purdy and William 



GEORGETOWN. 



397 



Drake, went out one morning with their fowHng-pieces, and 
before breakfast killed four large bucks, not far from their 
homes south of the village. This is well authenticated, 
though it may seem to us a pretty large " breakfast spell." 
Panthers and bears sometimes made their appearance, while 
wolves frequently prowled about the quarters of the farmers' 
flocks. Small game was abundant. It is said that Muller 
paid high prices for game ; for rabbits as high as one dollar 
each, and in the same ratio — size and quality considered 
— for other animals. He also employed all the spare time 
of men and boys to catch trout for his fish-pond, paying 
enormous prices for them. Years after, when the dam of 
his pond was washed away, the school of large speckled 
trout which came down the stream, were a sight to see. 
For a long time after, this creek, which had never harbored 
a trout before Muller's sojourn, was one of the most prolific 
trout brooks in the country. 

The ridge west of the Otselic, which was covered with a 
dense wilderness later than other sections of the town, har- 
bored an occasional panther and wolf to a late day. The 
prolonged unearthly scream of a panther was heard by 
many along the course of the creek one dark October night 
in 1843. It was also seen by different individuals, and was 
hunted, but escaped to the south. 

As late as 1847, Mr. Sisson, then living on the Muller 
farm, had some of his sheep devoured. Evidences con- 
vinced him that the destroyer was some species of wild 
beast. His suspicions were confirmed by the statements 
of others who had seen, at different times, an anim;d resem- 
bling a wolf. Hunters scoured the Muller woods and oc- 
casionally obtained glimpses of the prowler, whose move- 
ments to avoid observation were very cunning, and its 
actions very shy. At length his wolfship's quarters were 
ascertained to be within a certain radius on the side of the 
hill, in the wooers west of the tannery. A force of an hun- 
dred armed men, from the village an4 adjacent country, 



398 MADISON COUNTY. 

volunteered to effect the capture of the aggressor ; which 
force, on coming to the Muller woods, formed an extended 
circle a^^ound the brute's stronghold. Gradually this circle 
narrowed its bounds, scouring every copse, inspecting every 
hollow tree or log, and overturning every pile of brush. Step 
by step the circle reduced its circumference, until the men 
had drawn quite near to each other. Presently a dark ob- 
ject moved the foliage of the thick undergrowth ; every 
hunter's eye grew keen, every arm grew strong of nerve ; 
for here was rare game, to bring down which, would be an 
honor. Soon the dark object darted from the cover of its 
hiding-place, and made straight to a point where he appar- 
ently expected to pass the line of men. "The wolf! the 
wolf !" shouted several, while others coolly raised their rifles 
and fired. With balls in his body, and stunned with blows 
from gun-stocks, the last wolf in Georgetown yielded his 
life. He was found to be one of the largest as well as the 
last of his race in this section. The trophy was borne in 
triumph to the village, and there put on exhibition to sat- 
isfy the incredulous and gratify the curious. The lucky 
marksman, whose ball first hit the wolf, was a man named 
Soules, from the adjoining town of Otselic. 

For a time the enterprises of Georgetown were scattered. 
There was the store at Bethel Kurd's, which, after Trues- 
dale, was kept by Daniel Kurd. Religious meetings here, 
made this a place of attraction and of some note. The 
Muller village, with its many peculiarities, brought people 
from far and near, and trade was lively in consequence. 
The mills of Hunt & Bishop, on the Otselic, were, however, 
situated in the most feasible locality for business, and peo- 
ple were not long in finding it to be a pleasant and advan- 
tageous village site. There was the tavern of Payne, on 
the southeast corner ; on the opposite corner, southwest, 
(the present site of the post office,) stood a large, old fash- 
ioned, low, framed house, which was not lathed and plas- 
tered, and had a huge Dutch chimney in the center, with 



GEORGETOWN. 399 

fire-places in every room around it. Burnet Galloway had 
a cabinet shop in the north part of this house, and Alexan- 
der McEIwain kept tavern in the other part. A store was 
kept by a Mr. Dudley. There was, also, a blacksmith and 
several other mechanics at this point. 

After 18 1 3, the Muller village went down, and Slab City 
began to rise. In 1815, by an act of Legislature, Township 
No. 6 was set apart from DeRuyter. The inhabitants were 
unanimous in their desire to have the town named " Wash- 
ington," in honor of our first President ; bjt the Legislature 
objected, as there v^^ere several other towns of Washington 
in the State ; so, on the recommendation of that body, the 
people accepted the illustrious General's christian name, 
thus giving us " Georgetown." 

The first town officers were : — Capt. William Payne, Su- 
pervisor ; Dr. E. Whitmore, Town Clerk ; Ebenezer Hall 
and Elijah Brown, Assessors. 'Squire Seth Smith of the 
village, and 'Squire Alvord, were two of the first Justices 
appointed. This town had been previously honored by 
appointments to office of its citizens, when it was a part of 
DeRayter. Eleazer Hunt was Justice of the Peace for 
that to Vim, appointed in 1806; Daniel Alvord and Josiah 
Purdy were Justices in 1808, and Ezra Sexton in 18 10. 

John F. Fairchild moved into town in 18 17, and kept a 
store on the northwest corner in Georgetown village. He 
afterwards kept tavern on the 'Southeast corner. The first 
store of importance was built on the site now occupied by 
the residence of Mr. Hannibal Priest, on the northeast cor- 
ner, and was kept by Mr. Ira B. Howard. Chester Rose 
was one of the early store keepers. 

Dr. E. Whitmore had been the established physician 
since 18 10, and continued to be the favorite among a wide 
circle of patrons to the close of a long life, which gave to 
Georgetown many years service. He also kept the first 
winter school in the village, in the winter of 1810-11. The 
school was held in 'Squire Smith's house, near the mill. 



400 MADISON COUNTY, 

The scholars came from a wide circuit round about ; from 
Payne's, Hawks',* Nichols', and from the south line of the 
town. Dr. Whitmore was popular in many respects, being 
Town Superintendent, Inspector of Common Schools, and 
holding many other offices of responsibility and trust. He 
was one of the early prominent men. 

With Dr. Whitmore, we should name others who were 
locally distinguished in the earlier years of the town :-Such 
as 'Squire Alvord, a man of worth and integrity; 'Squire 
John Brown, the land agent, a man of marked ability ; 
'Squire William Payne, who was frequently a town officer, 
and a thorough going and influential man ; Capt. Samuel 
White, who was for some time a Justice of the Peace, and 
active and useful in town proceedings ; Alfred Brown, a 
popular teacher, and for a number of years Justice and 
School Commissioner ; Rossetter Gleason, a teacher, widely 
known as a surveyor, and also a Justice ; Alexander McEl- 
wain, popular as a landlord and valuable as a citizen, who 
frequently held town offices and was a Commissioner of 
Deeds ; Apollos Drake and Olmstead Brown, who were 
Constables and Collectors, and held other town offices, and 
Elijah Brown, who was active and efficient in town matters^ 
and a faithful officer. 

To this list might be added many others of worth and 
local distinction, if we step into the years following 1830, 
when Georgetown furnished her proportion of talent, con- 
tributed her share of public officers, and yet held in reserve, 
men of real worth and true integrity to build up society and 
home institutions. 

About 1820, a company from Plainfield, Otsego County, 
settled in the northern part of the town. William Griffin 
was already a resident there on Lot No. 6, and Richard 
Salisbury on another lot near by. This company was 
composed of Dea. James Babcock, Elijah Tracy, Ephraim 
Tracy, William Fish, Jirah Fish and Orrin Chase. These 
took up lots near each other west of the present " Line 



GEORGETOWN. ^OI 

School House," — so called from being situated on the line 
between Georgetown and Nelson. Lucius Griffin, now 
residing in this neighborhood, is a son of William Griffin ; 
Richard Salisbury is still living near Georgetown village. 
Mr. Eber Salisbury, who is engaged in manufacturing north 
of the village, is a son of the early settler above named. 
Some members of the Tracy family still live in town. 
Others of this company of long ago and their descendants 
have moved away. 

In 1823 or '24, the neighborhood last mentioned built a 
log meeting house on Lot 17, a short distance west of the 
farm house of Lucius Griffin, its site being very near the 
corner of the road which turns north. The religious society, 
Free Baptists, consisted of some sixty or seventy members, 
with Elder Robert Hall as pastor. Orrin Shephard and 
James Babcock were deacons. The salary of the minister 
was not a stated sum, but, as was common in those days, 
was such as the society could afford to give in provisions 
and money, and the use of a piece of land upon which the 
minister raised his own crops. This church held its own 
for ten years, when by removals and deaths it became so 
decimated that it disbanded. Many of its surviving mem- 
bers united with the Free Church of Northern Nelson. 

Up to 1830, the town gained in population rapidly. 
Squire John Brown, who had been appointed land agent for 
the Ludlow heirs,* exercised good judgment and managed 
affairs with such ability, that farms were speedily taken up. 
In the south part of the town, to those already mentioned 
as settlers, were added, Mann, Thorp, Mack, Upham, Niles, 
Day, Chapin, Ballard ; near the center of the town were 
the Rays, Wagoners and Barnetts ; and north and east 
were the Fletchers and Wickwires, Upon the road laid 
out early from the village past the Morrow farm to the Line 
School House, were located the Taylors, Morrows, Wilcoxs, 

* Squire Asa Ellis, formerly merchant in Georgetown, was subsequently made 
agent Lr the Ludlow land. He has recently purchased all remaining unsold. 
Z 



402 



MADISON COUNTY. 



Stevens, Turners and Waters, and to the west the 
Nichols, Whites, Weeks, Perrys, Buttons, and many- 
others whose names we have not obtained. 

Agriculture developed ; even at 1830, the farms of the 
pioneers had reached a good degree of cultivation, and with 
their substantial (though chiefly plain,) farm houses and 
capacious barns, indicated plenty and comfort. The 
products of the newer sections, in wood, bark and lumber, 
found their way to Cazenovia, the chief marketing place ; 
these, together with stock raising, were sources of steady 
prosperity. 

Common schools and religious societies were especially 
nurtured as the cherished institutions of a free and progress- 
ive people, — institutions in which all, rich and poor, had 
an equal interest. One of the first school houses of the 
town was built in the Sexton neighborhoo:!, and stood very 
near the location of the present one, at the corner of the 
road on Lot No. 58. Afterwards the district was divided 
and this school house was moved east of Mr. Hawk's, for 
the use of that section. The new district formed by the 
division, lay at the north, and its school house was erected 
near Mr. Atwood's — hence called the "Atwood School 
House." This town has also had its select schools, at 
intervals, for very many years. One of the best teachers 
of earlier times was Rossetter Gleason, before mentioned. 

Mr. Gleason was one of the marked characters of the 
new country ; a genuine yankee who could turn his hand 
to any trade, yet devoted himself chiefly to the practice of 
surveying and the business of wool-carding His establish- 
ment on the creek north of Georgetown village, where the 
saw mill, planing mill, cheese box factory and dwelling 
house of Eber Salisbury is located, was well known by the 
inhabitants for many miles around. He was for some years 
a Justice of the Peace and School Commissioner. As 
surveyor he was familliar with every rood of land in George- 
town and adjacent territory. He possessed a mind of un- 



GEORGETOWN. 



403 



common fineness, and an elastic, hopeful and genial spirit, 
which made him welcome in every home. He pursued his 
favorite avocation of surveying up to 1867, when he 
removed to the State of Michigan, and there, in the home 
of his daughter, Mrs. Mary Cole, he died in the year 1869, 
at a very advanced age. 

The Baptist and Presbyterian churches were both early 
formed. The Presbyterians have the precedence in holding 
religious meetings, but it is undoubtedly the fact that Elder 
Stephen Olmstead, Baptist, was the first preacher in town. 
At intervals, he used to come from his home near Albany 
and hold meetings in the neighborhood of the Purdys, 
Browns and Olmsteads. The earliest Presbyterian minis- 
ter was Elder Benedict. The Presbyterian society built 
the first church edifice in town, in 1824. It was located 
north of the village, nearly on the site of the pleasant resi- 
dence of Wharton D. Utter. 

In the village, the present tavern was built by Ebenezer 
Hall, about 18 — . Mr. Rose followed John F. Fairchild in 
the store on the northwest corner. Mr. Ira B. Howard kept 
store on the northeast corner in 1830, moved to Michigan 
in 1835, and in 1869 was honored with the position of 
County Judge. Samuel Wickwire succeeded him in the 
store, and the latter, with his brother Charles, continued it 
at a later day under the firm name of " C. & S. Wickwire." 
Mosely & Campbell were for a time in business in another 
store, where Hare & Savage are now established. Subse- 
quently, these two stores were united under the firm name 
of " Mosely & Wickwire," and were located on the south- 
west corner. Elijah Adkins bought the property on the 
northeast corner, and sold goods there for a time, after 
which he opened cabinet making and did a fair business in 
that line. From that time forward, Georgetown village 
grew to be a business center of this section. 

The Baptist Church was built about 1835. The Presby- 
terian house was moved to the village a few years later. The 



404 MADISON COUNTY. 

tannery, now (1872,) owned by Hawks & Mack, was built 
by William F. Bostwick in 1837 or 1838. This was a desi- 
rable addition to the enterprises of the village, and was one 
of the sources of prosperity. The tannery of Henry & Gum- 
mings was built by Mosely & Wagoner a number of years 
later. The latter is a large estabhshment and has done a 
heavy business. 

Other enterprises have been instituted at more recent 
dates ; there is the carriage manufactory of Hawks & Stan- 
ton ; the cheese box factory and planing mill of Salisbury 
& Son. There are now three dry goods stores in the 
village : — That of Savage & Hare, one of the oldest ; the tin 
shop and hardware store oi Wm. H. Johnson, one of the 
best in the country ; a shoe store and grocery combined ; 
two first-class blacksmith shops ; the cheese factory of Sto- 
well Brothers, There are three resident physicians : — Drs. 
Charles White, George N. Harris and B. Franklin. The 
residence of the latter is one of the old landmarks of the 
village. The house was built before 1825, by Alexander 
McElwain. It has been greatly changed and modern- 
ized in its appearance. It was for many years the home of 
Dr. Whitmore, and the house in which he died, in 185 1. 
The M. E. Church edifice was built by the Free Church in 
1847. Brown's Hall, of recent build, is a commodious and 
most useful building for all public purposes. 

There has been a recent movement to enlarge the village 
by laying out new streets, which are to be built up with 
good residences. For this purpose, Timothy Brown has 
purchased a portion of the Ellis estate, and new streets are 
already marked out. 

Masonic. — A charter has been obtained and a Masonic 
Lodge instituted at Georgetown village, the present sum- 
mer (1872,). 

In 1850, the plank road through the main valley of the 
town was constructed, which united Georgetown vil- 
lage more closely with Eaton and Pecksport. Subsequent- 



GEORGETOWN. 



405 



ly, hop growing and dairying have "put money into the 
purses " of the inhabitants of Georgetown. Cheese facto- 
ries have sprung up in various sections. In all enterprises 
the farmers of this town are found to be keeping even pace 
with the spirit of the age. In this day of progress, they 
could not let the golden opportunity pass which would se- 
cure them a railroad ; hence, the inhabitants bonded their 
town heavily, and brought the Syracuse and Chenango Val- 
ley railroad through, close by the homes where the pioneers 
built their first log cabins ; where the first fields of grain, 
dotted with stumps, waved in the sun so many summers 
ago, and skirting the sacred enclosure where the sorrowing 
settler for the first time upturned the virgin earth to re- 
ceive the remains of his cherished dead. The town has 
long remained inland from thoroughfares, having been here- 
tofore less favored, geographically, than the more northern 
towns of the county ; but the skill of man has overcome, at 
last, all obstacles in the way of railroads, and Georgetown 
is henceforth in familiar acquaintance with the great world. 



Dr. E. Whitmore was born in East Haddam, Connecti- 
cut, in 1784, and while a young man came to Hamilton. 
Madison County was fast being settled and was pressing 
her invitations to the energetic sons of New England to 
come in and help build up the society of the new country. 
Dr. Whitmore was from an old New England family, dis- 
tinguished for traits of character derived from Puritan an- 
cestry, and those peculiar traits and sterling qualities were 
especially valuable to him as one of the pioneer physicians. 
He studied medicine in Hamilton with Dr. Thomas Greenly. 
He there married Miss Susannah Hovey and soon after re- 
moved to East Hamilton and commenced the practice of 
medicine. In 18 10, he removed to Georgetown, and there 
established permanently. In 18 14, he purchased the home- 
stead farm, a short distance south of the village, where he 
lived till 1834, and where several of his children were born. 



406 MADISON COUNTY. 

The latter year he purchased a farm in the village of George- 
town, and finally bought the house where Dr. Franklin now 
lives, where he spent the remainder of his years. In 1838, 
the 25 th of December, his wife died at the age of fifty-two. 
She had been to him a true helpmeet, and was a most wor- 
thy christian (a member of the Presbyterian Church) and 
an estimable and honored woman in society. Six sons and 
daughters who reached manhood and womanhood, were the 
children of this union, and all were living when she died. 
These sons and daughters married and some of them settled 
in Georgetown ; one son, Russell, resides on the homestead 
farm, another, Mr. E. Whitmore, owns a romantic situation 
near by. 

Dr. Whitmore married, for his second wife, a sister of 
James Barnett (well known in this County). She died in 
1850, about fifteen months prior to his own death. Two 
children were left of this union. 

In his profession as physician, he was, however, most at 
home. Being careful, and having a cool head, he was re- 
markably safe in critical cases. The branch of Obstetrics 
had no more noted physician in the country ; h^ was called 
far and near, and never in a single instance, it is said, has a 
patient in this part of his practice, died while in his care, 
and the cases can be numbered by tens of hundreds. He 
eschewed surgical operations and artificial means, and pro- 
fessed himself to be, only nature's handmaid, to which, un- 
doubtedly, in a great measure, is due his remarkable suc- 
cess. 

Dr. Whitmore was religiously constituted, and his whole 
life was influenced by this inborn principle. One particular 
verse of an old familiar hymn was a favorite with him from 
childhood. All through life, it clung to him, and time after 
time he could be heard repeating, or singing : — 
" Life is the time to serve the Lord, 
The time to insure the great reward, 
And while the lamp holds out to burn, 
The vilest sinner may return." 



GEORGETOWN. 40/ 

Once when riding alone upon one of his professional tours, 
the poet's idea forced itself upon his consciousness with un- 
usual vividness. He was deeply convicted, and came out 
from the mental 'struggle and the close examination he held 
with himself, a true Christian. He then united with the 
Presbyterian Church, of which he remained a member till 
the close of his life. Although truly devout and consistent 
in his christian character, he was never sectarian. It is no- 
ticeable that six of his children were converted and united 
with the Baptist Church with his approval, all of whom were 
baptized in one day. His philanthropic spirit recognized 
the brotherhood of all christians and all nations as well ; 
hence he was a warm Abolitionist, espousing the cause 
when it was exceedingly unpopular. 

Although a very energetic man, he was also calm, delib- 
erate and methodical in his manner. A practical reasoner, 
he looked straight through a matter to the root and did not 
suffer trivial circumstances to influence him. These quali- 
ties with great integrity, commanded the confidence of his 
fellow citizens. He was not desirous of holding office, yet 
his town's people were continually placing trusts in his 
hands, which to him were repeated proofs of their regard 
for and confidence in him, and which he fully appreciated. 
He was the first Town Clerk of Georgetown, and held this 
office for six years in succession, was then Supervisor for 
some years and then again Town Clerk. He was appoint- 
ed Postmaster and held that office for nineteen years. He 
was for some time Town Superintendent and Inspector of 
Common Schools. He felt a great interest in the education 
of the masses and as there were no higher schools in 
Georgetown on which to bestow his care than common 
schools, he aimed to have these as good as the best. Under 
the care of his clear and critical judgment, common schools 
in this town were placed in excellent standing. Educa- 
tional interests have seemed to fall to the care of Mr. Whit- 
more and his sons, who, after him, have been repeatedly en- 
trusted with school offices. 



408 MADISON COUNTY. 

Dr. Whitmore retained a remarkable degree of physical 
vigor and elasticity, and his mental force was unimpaired up 
to the day when he was stricken with paralysis, when after 
a short period of suffering he died, November 6, 185 1. 

His kindness of heart, his sterling virtues, his noble na- 
ture, (albeit he was not without his faults, which were, how- 
ever, more peculiarities than faults,) made him beloved 
among the people, and his loss was deeply felt So large a 
concourse as gathered at his funeral has seldom been wit- 
nessed in Georgetown. The Rev. Mr. Gaylord preached 
from this most appropriate text : — " And they buried him ; 
and all Israel mourned for him." I Kings, XIV Chap., 
1 8th Verse. 

CHURCHES. 

The Presbyterian CliurcJi of Georgetown, was formed pre- 
vious to 181 5. It was a large society, and the only society 
in town for many years. The meeting house, the first in 
town, was built in 1824, half a mile north of Georgetown 
village. About 1840, the house was moved to the village. 
In 1845, the " Free Church " was formed of members who 
had withdrawn from this. Though decimated in numbers 
from this cause, and from deaths and removals, the society 
is still a corporate body, and holds its property. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Georgetown. The 
first class of this denomination was formed about 1830, in 
the Atwood school house. Rev. J. M. Snyder, who wa 
stationed at Earlville, was the first preacher ; Julius Hitch-' 
cock was first class leader. About 1833, the first class in 
the village was formed. In 1841, the two classes were re- 
organized, under one head, at the village. Revs. Wm. 
Rounds, Lyman Beach, Henry (or Jesse) Halstead serve 
this charge as pastors the first few years. The meeting- 
house was built by the " Free Church," about 1847, and of 
that society purchased by the Methodists, at a later date. 

TJie Baptist Church in Georgetown, was formed Nov. 12 
183 1, and consisted of twenty members. Pitts Lawrence 



GEORGETOWN. 4O9 

was first Deacon, The meeting-house was built in 1834. 
The first pastor was Daniel G. Corey, who was ordained in 
this church March 5, 1835. Edmund B. Cross, of this 
church, became a missionary to southern Asia. The fol- 
lowing have been pastors : — Revs. Oliver H. Reed, Nathan 
Woods, Reuben L. Warriner, Reuben Parsons, jr., A. Hall, 
William C. Hubbard, E. C. Cook, W. B. Morey, S. S. Web- 
ber, William Hickery, J. K. Brownson, John R. Haskins 
and C. S. Crain. 



4IO MADISON COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XI. 



HAMILTON. 

Boundaries. — Geography. — 4th Township ; Its Purchase. — In- 
dians. — Curious Relics. — Mary Antone. — Pioneers and their 
Experience. — First Courts. — Anecdote. — Payne's Settlement. 
— East Hamilton. — Hubbardsville. — Hamilton Center. — 
Poolville. — Hamilton Village in 1800. — The Settlement in 
1800, 1809, 1812. — Hamilton Academy. — Female Seminary. 
— Union School. — Mercantile and Mechanical Industries of 
the Village. — Hamilton Bank. — Hamilton Lodge F. & A. M. 
— Biograi)hical Sketches of Samuel and Elisha Payne, Gen. 
King and others. — Public men, Lawyers and Physicians. — 
Madison University. — Rev'. Daniel Hascall ; Dr. Kendrick. — 
Earlville. — Churches. — Newspapers. 

Hamilton is bounded on the north by Madison, east by 
Brookfield, south by Chenango County and west by Leb- 
anon. The surface is a rolling upland, broken by the valley of 
the Chenango River and its eastern branch. High ridges bor- 
der the stream in the south part of the town. At Hamil- 
ton village and north, the valley is spreading and beautiful, 
and this village rests in a spacious vale nearly encircled by 
the eastern, southern and western hills. The valleys of 
the Chenango are fertile, the soil consisting of a gravelly, 
sandy loam. The eastern part of the town, rough and 
uneven in its contour, has most excellent grazing farms, 
while its soil is of a clayey loam resting on a clay subsoil. 

The old, well known Skaneateles Turnpike crossed this 
town, entering at Hamilton village, passing to East Hamil- 
ton, thence to Clarksville, in Brookfield. The road is to 



HAMILTON. 4ri 

this day characterized for its mathematical directness, over 
high hills and through deep valleys, with no possible varia- 
tion on account of steep passes. The older Utica and 
Oxford Turnpike entered the northeast corner, crossed the 
town, passing out at the southwest corner, at Earlville. 
This, like the other turnpike, pursued an undeviating course, 
over mountainous ridge, or hillock, as the case might be. We 
are to remember, however, that the surface of the country 
was hidden by a heavy forest, and the surveying engineer, 
with an undertaking before him as great as now would be 
the laying out of a railroad, spent no time or money in 
looking up feasible routes in the wilderness, but laid his 
lines, as he followed his undeviating compass. The Utica 
and Oxford Turnpike long ago dispensed with its numerous 
taverns, as they lost their revenue when the Chenango 
Canal was built, for Utica and Oxford and the intervening 
villages transferred their transportation from the heavy 
wagons to the canal boat. Now, the Utica, Chenango and 
Susquehanna Valley Railroad, having found the easy grades 
along the route of the old turnpike, is performing more than 
the work of both canal and turnpike. This railroad opens 
to communication with the world, a rich agricultural 
countr)^ in which eastern and southern Hamilton has its share. 

The Chenango Canal, built in 1836 and ''>^'j, follows the 
Chenango River along the west border of the town, pass- 
ing through Hamilton village, Middleport, in the border of 
Lebanon, and leaves the county at Earlville. 

The Chenango River becomes a feeder for the canal. 
The most easterly branch of this stream has several fine 
mill sites along its course, the most available being at 
Poolville and at Earlville, (once called the Forks,) where it 
unites with the main stream. 

The Utica, Clinton and Binghamton Railroad, following 
the line of the Chenango Canal, again divides the work of 
transportation, so that to-day the number of boats plying 
upon the canal has become greatly lessened. 



412 MADISON COUNTY. 

The town of Hamilton was formed from Paris, March 5, 
1795, and named in honor of the patriot, Alexander Hamil- 
ton. Its territory embraced four townships of the " Che- 
nango Twenty Towns," which was reduced by Eaton, Leb- 
anon and Madison being taken off in 1807. 

The first town meeting was held in the house of Elisha 
Payne, on the first Tuesday in April, 1795. Joshua Le- 
land was voted Supervisor, and Elijah Blodgett, Town 
Clerk. 

Hamilton, or " 4th Township," began to receive attention 
from emigrants as early as 1792. In April, (the i6th day,) 
1794, William S. Smith received from the State a patent for 
4th Township, which, according to the statement of the 
Surveyor General, contained 24,400 acres. A transfer was 
soon after made, and the English proprietor. Sir William 
Pultney, came in possession of the town, though William S. 
Smith received some of the fine land in the Chenango .val- 
ley, which he sold to settlers. 

From the English company, Dominick Lynch purchased 
the title to most of the Township. It is said that he 
was so much gratified by the sale of the first five hundred 
acres of land, at twenty shillings per acre, that he paid five 
dollars more than usual, to have the deed of conveyance en- 
grossed on parchment, which is yet held in the family. 

The town of Hamilton, which, at the present day, exhib- 
its to the eye of the traveler such broad, rich and beautiful 
farms, handsome dwellings, and which bears such evidences 
of that substantial progress in business and learning which 
belongs to older countries, was, eighty years ago, when the 
pioneer first set foot upon her soil, a vast sweeping wilder- 
ness, still tenanted by the Oneidas and Stockbridges, who 
fished in her streams, hunted her deer, encamped in her 
valleys, and made their journeys through her territory, to 
and from the Susquehanna. The New York State docu- 
ments and papers, cite us to their occupation of this land 
three hundred years ago, and from time to time point to 



HAMILTON. 



413 



their joiirneyings down the Chenango to their own Susque- 
hanna lands. The pioneer found their well-worn trail, and 
their camping grounds upon the flat near the Forks, (Earl- 
ville,) which were readily designated by Indian implements 
being scattered all about their deserted camp fires — not 
wholly deserted, foi they annually came and spent a season 
in basket-making, to a period as late as 18 15. 
j Within the memory of our younger inhabitants, the 
Stockbridge tribes, with an old chief, Konkerpot, as their 
I leader, used to visit Fisherman's Pond, on the farm of O. B. 
Lord, Esq., near Poolville, where, under a pair of large 
cherry trees, they made their baskets. 

Year by year, as the plowman upturns the soil, some 
relic is brought to the surface, such as hatchets, arrow- 
heads, pipes, stone pestles, &c., implements similar to those 
I found in other localities. It is not a long time since Squire 
I Lord picked up, on his farm above named, two specimens 
I of Indian antiquity, the like of which we have not seen else- 
I where. They were stones somewhat in the shape of human 
heads. Holes were chisled out to represent the eyes — or 
eye-sockets — and a place cut to represent the mouth. In 
the center of those eye-sockets, is curiously wrought in 
what might indicate the sight of the eye ; a bright spot of 
flint in those oi one, and of white sandstone in the other. 
Both these specimens are common cobble stones, the largest 
being the lightest colored, and which has, also, three round 
holes drilled, or chiseled, in the back of the head. If we 
were to decipher the meaning of those holes, we should say 
that the person whom this was designed to represent, was 
killed by being shot twice in the head from behind, one ball 
passing out at the top of the head. Indian hieroglyphics 
mean much more than we can decipher, and the light color 
of this head, the perpendicular forehead, the dimple chiseled 
in the chin, the light sand stone eye-sight, the bullet holes 
in the head, have a strange story of their own, which we 
should be glad to read. 



414 MADISON COUNTY. 

The trail which the Indians kept well worn, came from 
Oneida Creek and passed down the Chenango branch 
through the west part of Hamilton. Two miles below Ham- 
ilton village was a frequent camping ground. 

One winter, about 18 10, a company of about seventy en- 
camped here and built their wigwams ; lived for some 
months, and made their baskets ; roamed about the forest 
and among the settlers ; hunted a little and exhibited their 
wild customs considerably, all winter. However, they ap- 
peared to be rather peaceably disposed, and the white in- 
habitants on the west side of the creek became quite accus- 
tomed to their wild whoops and savage habits. 

The tragedy in which Mary Antone acted a horrible 
part, occurred here a few years later. The party to which 
she and the Antone family belonged, had encamped upon 
land now known as the farm of J. D. Smith, Esq., and 
erected seven large wigwams. It was in autumn, and they 
were intending to spend the winter here. The young squaw 
toward whom Mary felt such a vindictive hatred, was fine 
looking, but was spoken of by some of the Indians, as " no 
good." She had been maneuvering to captivate the atten- 
tion of Mary's Indian, a young Stockbridge, to whom, it is 
said, Mary had been some time married, according to the 
Indian form. The girl was making a basket for Mrs. Han- 
nah Waters, of Hamilton village, and was in the act of 
puttmg in the handle, when Mary came upon her suddenly, 
and struck her with an Indian knife. Not satisfied with one 
blow, she repeated it, until she had inflicted seven wounds 
in her right side, which produced her death. Mary made 
some little effort to conceal herself in the woods, but was 
found, with very little difficulty, behind a log, curled up like 
a wild animal. She, however, immediately resumed her 
proud bearing, for she possessed a good form and rather 
handsome features. She then appeared twenty years of 
age, or thereabouts. She manifested a remarkable indiffer- 
ence as to her fate, and when told that she would be hung 



HAMILTON. 415 

for the murder, she repHed that she did not care, and signi- 
fied that had the girl Hved, she would at some future time 
have taken her life. She added : " She got away my In- 
dian, and deserved to die." 

Mary was put in irons and held in confinement for a few 
days at Mr. Howard's tavern in Hamilton. Howard kept 
the house which is now kept by Mr. Ingalls. In this house 
the jury of inquest held their consultation.* 

Of the jurors who were impanneled on the inquest, both 
ante and post mortem, the following are a part of the names : 
— Gen. Nathaniel King, Daniel Smith, Elisha Payne, Azel 
Tinney, Jabin Armstrong and Samuel Payne. Of these 
men, only Jabin Armstrong is now living. 

There was great excitement attending the trial, which 
Abram Antone contended was no business of the white 
man's. He believed that the laws of New York had no ju- 
risdiction over the Indians. The Oneida Chief was con- 
sulted, who gave her up to be tried by our courts. This 
proceeding Antone treated with contempt, declaring the 
chief's authority to be no greater than his own in such a 
case. Indeed, it is said by some that by right Antone was 
an Oneida Chief. The head Chief of that nation was con- 
sidered an enemy to Antone. 

During her stay at Hamilton, many persons visited her, 
to whom at first she was quite communicative, although she 
could speak English but brokenly. Her father brooded about 
the premises with a sullen cloud upon his brow, till he ob- 
tained an interview with Mary. After this she answered 
no more questions of the bystanders. She was removed 
from here to the jail at Whitestown, and after her trial was 
hung at Peterboro. Throughout the whole proceeding, in 
her trial and at her execution, even in her latest moments, 
she appeared extremely cool and indifferent. 

John Jacobs, an Indian, the principal witness against 
her, and who was most active in her arrest, became ever 

* William White, of Hamilton, Deputy Sheriff", captured Mary Antone. 



4l6 MADISON COUNTV. 

after the object of her father's hatred, whose murder by 
Antone, a few years later, and the subsequent events con- 
nected with Antone's hfe, created an excitement which can 
never be forgotten so long as the generation of that day 
exists.* 

Fourth Township was not, however, regarded as the 
rightful home of the Indian. The Clinton Treaty of 1788, 
had invested the State of New York with its ownership, and 
its doors were thrown open to the white settler. 

In the winter of 1792, John Wells and Abner Nash, from 
Paris, Oneida County, N. Y., formerly from Amherst, 
Massachusetts, came on snow shoes and selected a location 
in the southern part of the town, on the east branch of the 
Chenango River, a short distance east from where the vil- 
lage of Earlville now stands, and returned to Paris. In the 
spring of the same year John Wells and his wife, Abner 
Nash, Patrick Shields and John Muir, the two latter from 
Scotland, left Paris with their goods and chattels, all of 
which were drawn on an ox sled, and, guided by marked 
trees, penetrated the wilderness. Mrs. Wells was pro- 
vided with a horse on which she carried her infant son 
William, about one year of age. Their route was on the 
west side of the cedar swamp, between Waterville and 
Hamilton. Coming to the east branch of the Chenango 
which was swollen by recent rains, a new difficulty present- 
ed itself Nothing daunted, Mrs. Wells urged her noble 
horse into the stream, and he swam over with Mrs. Wells 
clinging to the saddle and her child in her arms. Their 
goods were ferried over in an old canoe, the oxen swimming 
the river and drawing the empty sled. Soon after, they 
reached their new homes in safety. 

During the summer of the same year, Mrs. Wells, learn- 
ing that there was a white woman about tweh^e or fourteen 
miles distant, in the town of Norwich, went on horseback, 
following marked trees, and made her a visit, there being 
no other white woman within that distance. 

* See Appendix, 



HAMILTON. 417 

Those four pioneer settlers took up a body of land on 
both sides of the Chenango River and then divided it. Ho- 
ratio Sholes now lives where they settled. The first and 
only animals driven into town and owned by these pioneers, 
consisted of one yoke of oxen, two cows and two hogs. 
Mrs. Wells brought a small dog in her saddle bag, which 
was nearly drowned, being wholly submerged in crossing 
the Chenango. 

John Wells commenced keeping a public house imme- 
diately after his arrival, for numerous emigrants and those 
"looking land" were finding their way to the "Twenty 
Townships." 

Patrick Shields was a native of Scotland, who came over 
with the British in the Revolutionary war. He was wound- 
ed in the battle of Bunker Hill, taken prisoner, and re- 
mained here afterward. 

The first living white child of the town was Harry, son of 
John Wells ; the second was Horace, son of Abner Nash. 
On the premises of the first settler the first store of the 
town was kept by a Mr. Church. The first grist mill of the 
town known to the remembrance of the earliest living in- 
habitants, was conducted by Reuben Slater, Poolville. 

In the year 1793, Squire Reuben Ransom took up the 
farm which has been known for years as the " Adon Smith 
farm." 

In 1794, Samuel Payne and his wife became the pioneers 
of Hamilton village. They settled on the land now occu- 
pied by Madison University. 

In 1795, Elisha Payne, Theophilus, Benjamin and Wil- 
liam Pierce, Jonathan Olmstead, Daniel and Nathan Fos- 
ter, all from Lebanon, Connecticut, with their families, 
joined Mr. Payne in the charming location he had selected. 
Samuel Stower, from the same place, came in 1797. The 
same year Dr. Thomas Greenly, the pioneer physician, 
came in from Connecticut. Samuel Stower took up eighty 
acres, having purchased it of the first proprietors, and lo- 

A2 



411 



MADISON COUNTY 



cated his residence east of where the Seminary buildings 
on Broad street now are. Dr. Greenly located on the 
same street where is now the residence of Mr. Mott. Ben- 
jamin Pierce, Esq., built the house now owned and occu- 
pied by Professor Beebe. In this hospitable house the 
lawyers, justices and judges of the early day, used to stop, 
when here at County courts, sharing Mr. Pierce's generous 
board during each term. 

Deacon Jonathan Olmstead, located about a mile south 
of the village, a little below University Hill, whei^ he built 
the farm house still standing. 

Before 1800, John Pomeroy, Herman Jordan, Timothy 
Rogers, Abijah Sprague, Otis Howe, Stephen Brainard, 
Edward Bonney, Ichabod Wheeler, Mr. Orton and Dr. 
Josiah Rogers, had settled in various localities in the 
town. Many of these settlers were men of property, whose 
means enabled them to invest considerably in lands, and to 
make substantial improvements. 

Upon the Chenango, in this genial soil, sprang into life 
the germ of the village of Hamilton, which, for years, in 
honor of the pioneers, bore the name of Payne's Settle- 
ment. 

Such men as constituted this settlement, men of 
means, of culture and of public spirit, were needed to en- 
gage in the momentous questions involved in the formation 
of "government for the swiftly populating new country. 
Most heartily did they engage their talents, and from the 
earliest date they have been prominent in the public histo- 
ry of our county. 

The first record we have of this section being represented 
in the courts of our government bears the date of 1794. 
This county then lay in the boundaries of Herkimer, and 
this town in the town of Paris. The Court was a term of 
the Herkimer Common Pleas and General Sessions, held at 
the Meeting House in New Hartford, town of Whitestown, 
on the third Tuesday m January, 1794. Henry Staring, 



HAMILTON. 



419 



Judge ; Jedediah Sanger and Amos Wetmore, Justices ; 
William Colbraith, Sheriff ; Jonas Piatt, Clerk, Among 
the list of Grand Jurors present, we find the name of Duty 
Lapham, one of Madison County's pioneer settlers, whose 
name is honorably and well known from an early period by 
the inhabitants of Hamilton. 

An anecdote of this first Court is thus related by Wm. 
Tracy, Esq., in his lectures before the Young Men's Asso- 
ciation of Utica, N. Y. : 

" A gentleman who attended the Court as spectator, in- 
forms me that the day was one of those cold January days 
frequent in our climate, and that in the afternoon, and 
when it was near night, in order to comfort themselves in their 
by no means very well appointed court room, and to keep the 
blood at a temperature at which it would continue to circulate, 
some of the gentlemen of the bar had induced the Sheriff t'> pro- 
cure from a neighboring inn a jug of spirits. This, it must be 
remembered, was before the invention of temperance societies. 
Upon the jug's appearing in Court, it was passed around the 
bar table, and each of the learned counselors in his turn up- 
raised the elegant vessel, and descanted into his mouth, bv the 
simplest process imaginable, so much as he deemed a sufficient 
dose of the delicious fluid. While the operation was going on, 
the dignitaries of the bench, who were no doubt suffering quire 
as much with the cold as their brethren at the bar, had a little 
consultation, when the first Judge announced to the audience 
that the Court saw no reason why they should hold open Court 
any longer, and freeze to death, and desired the crier forthwith^ 
to adjourn the Court. Before, however, this functionary could 
commence with a single ' Hear ye,' ('ol. Colbraith jumped up, 
catching, as he rose, the jug from the lawyer who was compli- 
menting its contents, and holding it up toward the bench, hasti- 
ly ejaculated : 'Oh ! no, no, no. Judge — don't adjourn yet ; take 
a litile gin, Judge ; that will keep you warm ; 'taint time to ad- 
journ yet ;' and suiting the action to the word, he hande i his 
honor the jtig. It appeared there was force in the Sheriff's ad- 
vice, for the order to adjourn was revoked, and business went 
on." 

From this date, all Courts of this County were held at 

Whitestown till 1798, when, by an act passed the 15 th day 

of March of that year, Herkimer County was divided, and 

Chenango County was formed from this and Tioga County. 

It fell to the lot of Hamilton and her sister towns, to be in- 



420 MADISON COUNTY. 

eluded in the County with the pleasant sounding Indian 
name, Chenango, and for eight years lay within its domain. 

After the formation of Chenango, courts were formed 
within its boundaries, and the first Court of Common Pleas 
was held in Hamilton, in the log school house near the 
house of Elisha Payne, in June, 1798 ; Isaac Foote, of the 
8th Township, (now Smyrna,) presiding as first Judge ; Joab 
Enos and Joshua Leland, Judges ; Oliver Norton and 
Elisha Payne, assistant Justices ; Uri Tracy, Sheriff ; Sid- 
ney Breese, Clerk ; John L. Mersereau, Surrogate. The 
courts were held alternately at Hamilton and Oxford until 
1806. 

Judge Foote, who held this office for ten years, was the 
first member of the Legislature appointed to represent the 
interests of the people of this region when it was included 
in the County of Herkimer. 

The first jail limits were established by Court of Com- 
mon Pleas, at Sherburne Four Corners, in July, 1799, ^^^ 
the jail at Whitestown served for this county until 1808, 
and for Madison County until 1812. 

After the formation of Madison County, in 1806, the 
Courts were held alternately at the school house near Da- 
vid Barnard's, in Sullivan, (now Lenox,) and at the school 
house in Hamilton village. The first officers were, Peter 
Smith, first Judge ; Edward Green, Sylvanus Smalley, 
Elisha Payne and David Cook, Associate Judges ; Asa B. 
Sizer, County Clerk ; Jeremiah Whipple, Sheriff; Thomas 
H. Hubbard, Surrogate. 

It will here be seen that the town of Hamilton early acted 
a most important part in establishing Courts of justice for 
the protection of the rights and interests of the people. 
However, owing to the peaceful nature of the inhabitants, 
there appears to be no great amount of business previous to 
1800, while at the Circuit Court of this District, held July 
10, 1798, in the town of Oxford, Judge Piatt presiding, 
there was no business transacted at this or the second term, 
for want of litigants. 



HAMILTON. 421 

Since Hamilton embraced (until [807,) the towns of Leb- 
anon, Eaton and Madison, many of those who gathered up 
their effects, and took up their westward journey to become 
settlers of Hamilton, Chenango County, and who located 
within this then well known town, became in reality the 
pioneer settlers of Eaton, Lebanon and Madison. However, 
town lines did not separate those who were joined by a 
common interest, and the roads through the wilderness, 
which were only designated by marked trees, in the begin- 
ning, and which were now assuming some faint appearances 
of a highway, were as often traversed in their visits to each 
other as in the olden days when all dwelt in one town. 

The privations and want suffered in so many new settle- 
ments, were never so severely experienced in this hamlet. 
The nearest grist mill was at Brookfield, but owing to the 
roughness of the country between, no roads having been 
opened in that direction, this mill did not supply them. 
From the first, the route to New Hartford had been kept 
open, and was quite passable for that day, and from the 
grist mill at that place the settlers of Hamilton received 
their supplies of meal and flour, or got their grists of corn 
and rye, ground. However, the wooden mortar and pestle 
were quite frequently resorted to in pounding corn for fam- 
ily use. The building of the first grist mill was a new era 
in the prosperity of this section, and the man who built it be- 
came thereby a benefactor to his race and a blessing to com- 
munity. The first grist mill of this vicinity was built by 
Daniel Wheeler, about the year 1797, on the site of the 
present Armstrong mill, in the town of Lebanon, adjacent 
to the town of Hamilton. We mention it in this connec- 
tion because of its proximity to, and close alliance with the 
progress of this town, and was, moreover, for several years 
the only mill upon which a large section of the country de- 
pended. 

A few years later, this mill, then owned by Daniel and 
Elisha Wheeler, was burned. A new stone had just been 



422 



MADISON COUNTY. 



brought from Albany, and repairs to some extent had been 
made on the mill, with the object in view of starting it anew 
with two run of stone. The fire caught in the night from 
a kettle of coals kept in the mill for warmth ; stoves having 
never been introduced into the country at that day. The 
mill was nearly in ruins ere any one was aroused f )m their 
slumbers. The loss, being a severe one to the community, 
created considerable excitement, and before mid-day a large 
crowd had gathered from many miles around. Some came 
with their sleighs loaded with provisions and grain, which 
they tendered freely to the use of the troubled miller, who 
they well knew had suffered heavily in the loss of his stores 
of grain. A decision was made upon the ground, by the 
leading men, that the mill must be immediately rebuilt, and 
before night the plan was arranged, and next day the work 
commenced. In a short time Wheeler's Mill was perform- 
ing its usual routine of labor. 

Although log houses were the fashion, with their big 
stick chimneys, through whose broad opening the children 
could count hosts of stars at night, yet the saw mill of 
Ichabod Wheeler in Hamilton village, was bringing about 
a revolution in style, and as early as 1806, frame additions 
had been joined to many of these log buildings. These 
became the parlors of our grandmothers, and were ceiled 
with broad pine boards, specimens of which cannot be 
found at this day, only in the relics of some of these 
ancient houses. Many of the floors of these primitive tene- 
ments were made of split bassvvood logs, hewn so smooth 
and joined so nicely that not a splinter could be found, and 
which these ladies vied with each other in keeping of a 
chalky whiteness. The most aristocratic parlors were perfect- 
ly innocent of carpets or mahogany upholstery; but was 
familiar with water, soap, sand and rushes — with splint 
bottomed chairs and tall posted, canopied bedsteads ; while 
the hum of the spinning wheel, the clang of the loom, the 
trumpet notes of the dinner warning conch shell, the cheery 



HAMILTON. 423 

voices of large families, made music throughout the 
dwelling. These ladies were healthy, superior women, and 
in the language of one of them, Mrs. Lapham, who still 
survives,* hale and really fine looking, though at the 
advanced age of ninety-two, they "took solid comfort." 

We suspect that the wisdom of the pioneer women of 
Hamilton, became a quiet but powerful influence in the fur- 
therance of progress and prosperity in this flourishing town. 
From the knowledge we have of them, they may be counted 
among those noble women of whom Solomon says : " She 
looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not 
the bread of idleness," and " She openeth her mouth with 
wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 

From an anecdote related of one of the pioneer women, 
which occurred at an early day, we cannot for a mo- 
ment doubt the power, however unobtrusive it may have 
been, ot such women in shaping the destinies of the rising 
generation, as well as greatly mfluencing that of their hus- 
bands. 

In that day, the luxuries of the family board among the 
wealthiest, were few, in comparison to the present, and it 
was no uncommon thing if the housewife's larder became 
nearly empty. 

* The above statement was made August 1868. Mrs. Lapham has since died. 
From the Dispatch is the following obituary : — Mrs Amanda Lapham died at the 
residence of her son-in-law, Mr. L. Joslyn, in Eaton, April 22,1869, at the advanced 
age of 92. Mrs Laphim was one of the first settlers of the tjwn of Lebanon, 
her husband, Daniel Wheeler, being one of the most enterprising of the pioneers, 
and by whose untimely death in 1806, the wife lost a truly kind companion, and 
community a worthy citizen. Widowed and the mother of five young children, 
yet like the true women, as all our pioneer mothers were, she courageously bore her 
trials and managed her alfairs with enterprising assiduity. Mrs. Wheeler was one 
of the seven who comp )sed the First Baptist Church of Hamilton when it was 
first organized, and when Elder Olmstead was pastor, and from that day to the close 
of her long, eventful life, she was an earnest, consistent Christian. In later lite 
she became the wife of Dea. Lapham, who was long and honorably known to the 
people of Hamilton and vicinity. Mrs Lapham was the mother of the wife of 
Rev Jonathn Wade, missionary to Birmah. Remarkable vigor, symmetry, and 
activity of body, as well as strength and clearness of mind, characterized Mrs. 
Liphjin in her old age, and which did not fail her until her last illness, which was 
not of long duration. 



424 MADISON COUNTY. 

An occasion of this nature had happened in the house- 
hold of one of the first families of Hamilton. While at 

breakfast, Mrs. had said to her husband : " My dear, I 

have nothing in the house to cook for dinner. We have no 
meat, no potatoes, no flour, no butter — indeed, there is 
nothing !" The lady's good humored husband made no re- 
mark, appearing to think nothing of the matter, concluded 
his breakfast by despatching the remaining viands upon the 
breakfast table, rose and went about his business, w^histling, 
utterly forgetting that he needed another meal of victuals. 

Not so with Mrs. , who began to devise some plan, not 

so much to produce the noonday meal, which she knew her 
husband was able to supply, as to cure him of his habit of 
carelessness. She accordingly made a closer inspection 
throughout the house to procure something to cook, which 
resulted in her obtaining about half a teacup of Indian meal, 
which she brushed from the meal chest. This she boiled 
with water, which, when done, made a pudding about the 
size of a teacup. She then spread the dinner table with 
order, which was her usual habit, placed her pudding upon 
a plate, covered it with a bowl, and sat it in the center. Her 
better half arrived at noon, and both sat down to the meal. 
Glancing across the table, he remarked, " Well, my dear, 
where are the victuals ?" " Here," she replied, archly, as she 
uncovered the pudding. Further comment was needless. 
He now remembered, probably for the first time, the state- 
ment she had made in the morning. Good naturedly, and 
inwardly pleased by his wife's wit, he dispatched himself 
forthwith for the substantials, from which in a short time 

his lady prepared a comfortable dinner. Mrs. never 

afterwards had occasion to bring her ingenuity to a similar 
test. This same gentleman was repeatedly chosen to posi- 
tions of honor, and was eminently popular and beloved by 
all. In our opinion, it is a foregone conclusion, that the 
tact and wisdom of such wives as this, go far toward the 
making of such noble men. 



HAMILTON. 425 

Many enterprising farmers joined the settlement begun 
by Messrs. Wells, Nash, Shields and Muir on the rich lands 
about the valley of the Chenango, eastern branch, and soon 
had productive farms under cultivation. Among them were 
Abijah Snow, Elijah, Zenas and Thomas Nash, Lucius 
Crane, James Williams and others. Ebenezer Colson came 
to this section as late as 18 15, and spent the rest of his life 
here. Justus Shattuck came about 18 14, and settled near- 
ly half way between Earlville amd Poolville, and set up the 
clothier trade, which business he continued for many years. 

A settlement was commenced in 1796, in the east part 
of the town, called "Colchester," now East Hamilton. The 
inhabitants, being chiefly emigrants from Colchester, Ct.-. 
gave it the name of their native town. The Ackleys, Cal- 
vin, Rodney and Eli, three brothers, were conspicuous 
among the pioneers of Colchester. Some of their children 
are in possession of the excellent farms these men took up. 

Silas Clark, Stephen Brainard, Elisha Brainard, William 
Shephardson, Reuben Foote, Rufus Clark, Dr. Noah B. 
Foot were well known citizens of this section in the early 
days. Ezekiel Lord settled with William Lord about two 
miles south of East Hamilton. Dea. Stevens settled near 
Hamilton Center. David Dunbar and Calvin Hubbard be- 
came citizens of Hubbardsville. 

East Hamilton, or " Colchester Settlement," was a 
place of some note in the days when turnpike traveling was 
popular. The Utica and Oxford Turnpike was crossed by 
the Skaneateles Turnpike in this village. The hotel of 
Silas Clark was then known far and wide, for Mr. Clark 
was a popular landlord. He was in this hotel at an early 
day, and continued until business pretty much ceased on 
those roads. 

At present. East Hamilton has about thirty dwelling 
houses, one store, one tavern, a neat Methodist Church, a 
post office and a few mechanics' shops. 

Hubbardsville, contiguous to East Hamilton, became, 



426 MADISON COUNTY. 

at quite an early day, a pleasant country settlement, with a 
tavern, store, gristmill, tannery, and a few mechanics' shops. 
Mr. Eleazer Hunt, whose name occurs as the pioneer miller 
of Georgetown, built the grist mill at Hubbardsville. It has 
been, all its years, a most needed and useful institution, and 
the name of Hunt's mill justly had a wide reputation. Sher- 
ebiah Hunt, Eleazer's son, succeeded to the property, and 
a great many years perpetuated the name. It is now owned 
by P. T. Brownell. The old tannery was converted into a 
distillery, which, finally, under the pressure of temperance 
efforts, closed. 

Nathan Brownell was at one time quite extensively en- 
gaged in the mercantile business here, having his store 
on the corner opposite the store now kept by Mr. Nash. 

About 1835, 3. select school was established at Hubbards- 
ville, which was taught by a Mr. Niles of Lebanon. It was 
largely patronized. This school continued with varied suc- 
cess, yet maintaining an excellent reputation, when it was 
incorporated in the year 1850, as the Hubbardsville Acade- 
my. This was due the enterprise of the citizens, and the 
exertions of Prof P. Woods, who was the first teacher after 
the charter was granted. The school was very successfully 
conducted for a time. It has since become extinct. In 
1837, the school building was erected. 

At present, Hubbardsville has one store, Clark Nash, 
proprietor, a post office, grist mill, saw mill, and a fine 
school house, where religious meetings are held. 

Calvin Hubbard, from whom this place is named, is still 
living, at a very advanced age. He has been a successful 
farmer, as his broad and well tilled acres show. Those 
beautiful maples along the street, from Hubbardsville to the 
Center, were set out by him. 

David Dunbar, also an early settler of Hubbardsville, was 
another superior farmer. James H. Dunbar, son of David 
Dunbar, purchased a farm of H. P. Potter, and being an ac- 
tive, energetic man, he became one of the most scientific 



HAMILTON. 427 

farmers of this section. He was awarded the first premium 
by the Madison County Agricultural Society, in 185 1, as 
having the best cultivated farm in the county. 

A rich farming country surrounds Hubbardsville, East 
Hamilton, and extends to the southward along the Chenan- 
go. It betokens good soil and well directed labor and care 
of the husbandman. Undoubtedly, competition has stimu- 
lated effort. Fine farm houses are everywhere to be seen, 
and the town exhibits no more beautiful farms in all her 
borders. It is one of the great hop growing localities of the 
State. Hubbardsville is the home of the prominent hop 
contractor, Mr. Charles Green. 

The Ackley farmers of East Hamilton, have been con- 
spicuous in agricultural societies, having frequently been 
awarded premiums for their stock. 

The large farm taken up by Ezekiel Lord, (two miles 
south of East Hamilton on the old turnpike,) is one of the 
best of that section, and is now under superior cultivation 
under the care of his grandson, O. B. Lord, Esq., who 
owns it. The Lord farmers have been foremost among ag- 
riculturists. 

Stephen Brainard was one of the early successful farmers 
and public spirited citizens, so useful in all communities, and 
especially valuable in the new country. 



The Nash family, who were among the earliest settlers of 
this section of Hamilton, were from Plainfield, Herkimer 
County. Their descendants are numerous in various parts 
of the town. Clark Nash, Esq., merchant at Hubbards- 
ville, is of this family. 



Hamilton Center. — As in several towns in this county, 
the center was selected by some of the inhabitants as the 
place for the village of the town, and in Hamilton Center 
the first Congregational Church of the town was built, 
about 1800. 



428 MADISON COUNTY. 

Prominent among the early members were the names 
of Patrick Shields and wife, Abijah Snow, Abijah Poole, Eli 
Ackley, Elisha Swift, Daniel Nash, Thomas Foster and his 

wife, Mrs. Hubbard, Dea. Jonathan Stevens, Stephen 

Brainard, Ezekiel Lord, and many others of the early set- 
tlers. About 1 840 the church was removed from the Cen- 
ter to Poolville. 

The Universalist Church was established by Rev. Na- 
thaniel Stacy, the widely known and gifted evangelist of 
that denomination. 

In the center burial ground, nearly all the early settlers 
were buried, and so loved and sacred has the spot been held 
by the families, that many of their members, dying while 
sojourning in distant places, have been returned to mingle 
their dust with their kindred. 

The proposed village at the Center, however, did not 
thrive, for as soon as business men saw better prospects in 
other localities they hastened to avail themselves of such 
facilities. There is now some twelve or fifteen dwelling 
houses at the Center, and the Universalist Church. 



Southwest of East Hamilton, and a half mile south of 
Poolville, on the old turnpike, there used to be a tavern 
which held forth for many years, for the benefit of the turn- 
pike. Its proprietor, Moses Campbell, owned an ashery, 
near by, which, as many as fifty years ago, was the center 
of a great excitement, it being the resort and hiding-place 
of counterfeiters. They were detected in their nefarious 
proceeding ; the officers of the law came in upon them, 
broke up their gang, and some of the number found a home 
in State Prison. 

Poolville. — About 1825, this village received its name 
from thte Messrs. Poole, who built up its manufacturing 
works. Mr. James Williams was one of the early propri- 
etors of the soil. 



HAMILTON. 



429 



Isaac Poole was first engaged in the Shattuck clothier 
mill, south of Poolville. In 1825, the Pooles built a woolen 
factory, in the firm name of Isaac & Randall- Poole. It was 
a small establishment, where, chiefly, satinets were made. 
This was one of the first woolen factories of this county. 

In 1826, Caleb Loud ^nd Elias Hunt came from Boston, 
and set up a boot and shoe manufactory, the business being 
carried on under the firm name of Amos & Isaac Poole. 
The boot and shoe factory employed from thirty to forty 
women, and the wholesale business was quite extensive. 
Mr. Loud also built a tannery, the one now owned by Mr. 
Henry Berry. 

In 1827, Mr. Randall Poole was killed by accident, which 
caused a change in the firm name. Mr. Poole's death cre- 
ated a great deal of excitement. We have the following 
statements concerning the lamentable affair : Mr. Poole had 
entered the factory early, to open the gate preparatory to 
starting the wheel, for the water was frozen about it. While 
engaged in this work, and alone, he received a fatal blow 
upon his head, in what manner it is not known ; the appear- 
ances only left his friends to conjecture that it was probably 
from the slipping of some implement he was using as a lever, 
or from something falling. He was found, not long after, 
lying upon the ice, dying. This occurred Dec. 12, 1827. 

After this, Amos Poole belonged to the factory firm, and 
later, Mr. Loren Snow* joined his name to the Pooles. 

In 1830, Mr. Enos Wood moved into Poolville, and set 
up a machine shop, and there made factory machinery, in 
which he was engaged for several years. 

About 1835, Mr. Nathan Eaton removed to Poolville and 
purchased the Poole factory. Mr. Eaton improved the 

* Loren Snow was one of the first men of the village, a thorough-going, active 
business man, a main pillar in church and society. He was an architect and builder 
by trade, and prosecuted that business to a large extent. In many of the villages of 
this county are fine and substantial buildings constructed by Dr. Loren Snow. He 
subsequently removed to Freeport, lllinoi , where he died, and where members of 
h s family still reside. 



430 MADISON COUNTY. 

works, opened a store, and run a large ashery in connection. 
He prosecuted a large business for a number of years. 

During the period between 1830 and '40, Poolville, with 
her various manufactories, her shops, stores and tavern, 
was wearing an air of thrift and enterprise unheard of be- 
fore. The Congregational Church was removed here, and 
a Methodist Society had been organized, (they subsequently 
built themselves a house of worship,) many tasteful cottages 
had been built, and altogether, it was a very pretty and live- 
ly village. 

There came a time, however, when woolen manufactories 
declined throughout the country. This mill at Poolville, 
like others, run down, and the business was finally given up 
and the mill sold.' It was in time converted into a grist mill 
which is now owned by Mr. James Jackson. The boot and 
shoe firm removed, and that business ceased. Mr. Enos 
Wood removed to Pierceville where he continued his ma- 
chine works for the Pierce Factory Co. In Poolville, Mr. 
Allen Wood, now senior member of the firm of Wood, Ta- 
bor & Morse, of the Engine Works at Eaton, first started as 
machinist with his uncle, Enos Wood. 

There is now in Poolville, one store, one tavern, some 
mechanic shops, a saw mill, grist mill, tannery, and about 
thirty dwelling houses, and the M. E. Church. 



In South Hamilton, one William Comstock, suffering 
with delirium tremens, killed his father and mother with a 
spider, cut out their hearts and roasted them on a stove. 
He plead guilty and was sent to State Prison during life. 
He is now living, an old grey headed man, having been a 
prisoner fourteen years, and is the oldest prisoner in that 
institution. 

HAMILTON VILLAGE. 

Lots No. I and 2, and Nos. 19 and 20, which make the 
village corporation, were purchased — No. i by Timothy 



HAMILTON. 431 

Rogers, Daniel Brown and Thomas Hart ; No. 2 by Elisha 
Payne ; No. 19 by Samuel Payne ; No. 20 by Theophilus 
Pierce. 

Elisha Payne made the first frame building in the town, a 
barn, the timbers of which, including the braces and rafters, 
were hewed. The barn is still in existence, owned by Mr. 
Patrick. Squire Payne (as Elisha Payne was better known,) 
kept tavern in his first dwelling immediately after his ar- 
rival and settlement here. In 1802, he built his new tav- 
ern, which stood on the corner of Broad and Lebanon 
streets. This was a fine building for that day, and has re- 
mained a landmark until the present year. It has, this sum- 
mer, been removed to make place for the new block being 
built.* It was found on moving the building that its joists 
and rafters, as well as its frame were all of hewed timber, 
quite strong, and in a pretty good state of preservation. 

There was a small frame tavern, built before this of 1802, 
which stood where the Park House now is, as early as 1800. 
It was a small house with two rooms facing the south and 
with a shed running back on the east. 

As early as 1800, Payne's Settlement had, besides the 
two taverns above mentioned, a frame school house on 
Broad street, a square roofed building standing on what was 
then the public green, at the head of the present Park, 
which was afterwards moved near the site of the Union 
School building ; a frame dwelling house on Broad street, 
the residence of Dr. Greenly, and the frame house of Ben- 
jamin Pierce. Joseph Colwell was keeping store on the 
corner of Broad and Lebanon streets where Mr. Woodruff 
now is. This was the first store of the village. Mr. Col- 
well continued at the same stand until 18 16, when in com- 
pany with Capt. Steere, he built the brick store, on the site 
of the present store of Foote & Gaskill. The frame of Mr. 
Colwell's first store is still in existence, and is the frame of 



*The new block built by our enterprising townsman, Adon Smith, Esq., is of 
brick, modern and complete in its fair proportions. 



432 MADISON COUNTV, 

Rev. Mr. Ludden's barn. There was also at that period a 
saw mill belonging to Ichabod Wheeler, located on the 
Chenango, not far from the present grist mill, and a small 
grist mill at the same place, in which Mr. Wheeler -had an 
interest. This mill was subsequently taken down to make 
place for the present grist mill built by Mr. William Pierce. 

The Baptist denomination organized a society as early as 
1796 and held meetings in the school house. 

So rapid were the improvements, in and about the settle- 
ment, that by 1806 large portions of land were cleared and 
most bountiful crops were growing, small orchards were set 
out, and each farmer (all the inhabitants were farmers then,) 
was getting into comfortable circumstances. The manufac- 
ture of salts, the only money paying business of that day 
was quite extensively carried on. 

During 1808 and 1809, the noted French refugee, Louis 
Anathe Muller, made his residence in this village. The 
house he occupied is yet standing next the M. E. Church. 
Muller was very quiet, reserved and non-committal in his 
manner while living here, and many believed him to be 
Louis Phillippe, When he had completed his Georgetown 
mansion, he removed there. 

In 1809, Payne's Settlement, as the village was still 
called, had comparatively but few inhabitants. These men 
were, however, of sufficient stamina to predict prosperity to 
the growing village. 

The village had so increased that they succeeded 
in obtaining a charter, incorporating the village of Hamil- 
ton, bearing date April 12, 18 12. 

At this period, Rogers & Pierce owned the grist mill and 
saw mill, situated near the place where the Utica, Clinton 
and Binghamton Railroad depot has been recently located. 
The Park House, which was built and kept by Artemus How- 
ard for many years, had succeeded the little frame tavern. 
Although it was a house of no small pretentions for that day, 
and was justly famous for its excellent management, yet its 



HAMILTON. 433 

appearance was exceedingly modest, when compared with 
its present style. Repairs, additions and modern arrange- 
ments, have quite transformed the little tavern of 1812 into 
the present Park House. 

A store was kept by Clark & Dorrance, and had been for 
some years on the location opposite Squire Payne's tavern ; 
it stood nearly on the same ground where Mr. Fairchild 
now lives. Charles T. Bearing, (who was Revenue Collec- 
tor during the war of 1812,) afterwards succeeded to the lo- 
cation of Clark & Dorrance, where he traded till 18 16, 
when he and Henry M. Graves, individually, built on the 
opposite side of the street, one-half of those brick buildings 
which were added to by the other half after 1820, and now 
form the brick block on the southwesterly side of Broad 
street. 

A small, red building, standing where the present book 
store now is, which was built years before by Dr. Greenly, 
and rented for a store to Graves & Dascom, was now (in 
18 12,) kept by Graves & Fargo. 

The Baptist meeting house, built in 18 10, was situated 
near the center of the village, on what was then the village 
green, near the north end of the Park ; its precise location 
was afterwards used for Broad street.* 

Therefore, as is shown above, the village, in 1812, had 
two taverns, — Squire Payne's and the little tavern which 
grew into the Park House ; three stores, viz : the one kept 
by Graves & Fargo, in the small building above mentioned, 
the Col well store on the Woodruff corner, and that of C. T. 
Dearing, who had succeeded Clark & Dorrance ; the school 
house, which had been moved to its location near the Union 
school house, where town meetings were held ; the Baptist 
meeting house, and about twenty-five dwellings. 

In 18 16, a new impulse was manifest, which resulted in 
the upspringing of various enterprises. 

*Haight & Chappell built a distillery about iSio, and kept it for a time, 
finally passed into the hands of Deacon Osgood. 
B2 



434 MADISON COUNTY, 

As before stated, Bearing & Graves built the half of 
those brick buildings on the southwesterly side of Broad 
street, that year ; also Joseph Colwell and Capt. Steere built 
the brick store, which was afterwards taken down and re- 
built by Capt. Steere, and which is now the hardware store 
of Foote & Gaskill. The old brick Academy was also built 
in 1816, Between that date and 1820, the Baptist Educa- 
tion Society perfected those measures which gave Hamilton 
village Madison University. 

Although the village was the home of some of the most 
eminent lawyers and talented political men of that day, and 
the rendezvous of great military companies and the ground 
of their parades, also the mercantile center for a great ter- 
ritory round about, yet the desire to promote the cause of 
education became the paramount idea which actuated the 
important movements of those days. The leading minds of 
the village were deeply imbued with its sentiments, and 
freely used their means in the object. As a first step, the 
Academy was originated. Its first trustees, who were also 
its founders, were : Elisha Payne, Thomas H. Hubbard, 
Thomas Greenly, Peter B. Havens, Esek Steere, Joseph B. 
Peck, John Foote, Samuel W. Osgood, William Pierce, 2d, 
George Lawton, Nathaniel Stacy, Thomas Wylie and John 
G. Stower.* 

The Academy building, a brick structure, was erected in 
1816, on the site of the present residence of D. J. Mitchell, 
Esq., corner of Broad and Pleasant streets. The lower 
story was used for the district school, which was in fact, 
the primary department of the Academy. In the second 
story the Academy was held. Its first principal was Gen, 
Nathaniel King. 
'/ In 1820, when the Baptist Education Society located 
' their school in Hamilton, it was opened in the third story 
of the Academy building, which they occupied till 1823 ; 

*Of the above named trustees, John Foote is the only survivor, at the date, July, 
187a. 



HAMILTON. 



435 



then they erected their first edifice, the Stone Academy. 
After the removal of the Theological School into their own 
edifice, the trustees of the Brick Academy had the third 
story taken off. The Hamilton Academy was incorporated 
by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, 
Febuary 23, 1824. 

Professor Zenas Morse succeeded Gen. King as Principal. 
He was assisted by lady teachers, the first of whom was 
Miss Emily Hayes. 

In 1827, the Theological Institution built their first 
edifice on the hill, (the western,) and their stone building in 
the village was rented by the trustees of the Hamilton 
Academy, to be used for the male department, and the 
brick building was used for the female department. This 
institution, then under the supervision of Prof. Morse, 
ranked second in the State, i. e., next to the Albany 
Academy. 

The old Academy was justly regarded by the citizens 
with pride ; it is spoken of in terms of affectionate remem- 
brance, and regret that it was allowed to run down. Its 
decline was owing to a variety of causes ; the University 
Grammar School incorporated in 1853, withdrew numbers 
of young men, and the Board suffered a heavy loss in the 
burning of the brick building in 1855. They were after- 
wards induced to supplant the Academy by the Female 
Seminary. 

According to the Regent's report, Hamilton Academy had 
at one time 130 students, 6^ pursuing a classical course ; 
number of volumes in its Library, 831; value of Library 
and apparatus, ^1,500. The Academy went down about 1857. 
The Hamilton Female Seminary was first opened by 
Mr. Clinton Buell, who bought the residence of Dr. Havens 
on Broad street, remodeled it and commenced his school in 
1856. It was incorporated by the Regents of the Univers- 
ity of the State of New York, Jan. 17, 1856. Mr. Buell 
conducted the school about three years, when he was sue- 



436 



MADISON COUNTY, 



ceded by Misses Wallace and Fields. Misses Waters and 
Hastings, Preceptress and Assistant, conducted it for a 
time, under whose skillful and efficient management, the 
Seminary was highly successful as a school, though it was 
not, and had never been from the beginning, a financial 
success. Subsequently, the school was discontinued for a 
time, until it was revived under the charge of Rev Charles 
A. Raymond, who had formerly been Principal of a Semi- 
nary of like character in Virginia. This was in 1861, or 
about that time. After two years labor Mr. Raymond left 
the school, and it was again discontinued. 

The Regents' report of 1859, gave to Hamilton Female 
Seminary, the number of students, 158 ; those pursuing a 
classical course, 117; value of Library and apparatus, 
$778 ; number of volumes in Library, 427. 

After both academy and seminary had ceased to exist, 
the stone building was taken down, and its site is now oc- 
cupied by a dwelling. 

In 1866, the Female Seminary was resuscitated by the 
present proprietor. Prof. Goodenough, who, co-operating 
with the wishes of some of the citizens, and with the assist- 
ance of a small subscription from some of them, purchased 
the old seminary, and opened a school again in the fall of 
that year. Since that time the school has been successfully 
conducted, by M. M. Goodenough, A. M., Principal, Mrs. 
M. M. Goodenough, Preceptress. All the facilities for a 
first-class boarding school has been combined with a day 
school. It has turned out several classes of graduates. 

The old district schools of Hamilton have been merged 
into the Union School. In 1853, School Districts No. i, 
14 and 17 were consolidated. The district elects three 
trustees each year for a term of three years, and the trus- 
tees, when organized, form a Board of Education, and have 
the charge of the school, the district being withdrawn from 
the jurisdiction of the School Commissioner of the County, 
or, at least, so far as the examination and licensing of teach- 



HAMILTON, 437 

ers is concerned, that duty being given to the Board of 
Education. 

The present corps of teachers (1872,) are, Mr. E. P. Sis- 
son, Principal ; Miss Jennie Hemingway, first, and Miss 
Lucinda Blakeman, second, Assistants ; Miss S. Leonard 
and Miss Lucy Rice, Intermediate Department ; Miss 
Phebe Sisson, 1 rimary Department. 

This sc'iDc' \v'as formed when the Union School move- 
ment was yet i-.n untried scheme in this county. Its 
founders were tlie first Board, of which Charles C. Payne 
was first Preside.it, \.'h. ) continued in this ofhce for nine 
years, resigning \^he i it had become successfully estab- 
lished. It required L^. vast deal of energy, tact and perse- 
verance to overcome the prejudice against the movement. 

The school, on the average, numbers from four to six 
hundred pupils. It is endowed with the library and appa- 
ratus of the old academy. The standard of instruction is 
high, and the graduating classes show a thoroughness of 
training which would do credit to any academy in the land. 

Madison University, (which is sketched at length here- 
after,) and the other schools of Hamilton village, have justly 
been her pride from the earliest days ; and yet, while it 
would seem that the energies of the people were being 
wholly spent in building up those schools, there has been 
quietly at work a wise regulating force, which has kept the 
bone and sinew healthy, and given the village stamina. This 
regulating power is found in the various industries, of which 
it is well to speak further, and to which the pen returns. 

From 18 1 5, onward, there was a steady increase in mer- 
cantile and mechanical pursuits. Many of the old firms 
were so prosperous as to continue up to a late day, some of 
them being still in existence. 

From 1834 to 1837, during the building of the canal, 
great activity in trade prevailed. More than a score of 
stores and shops suddenly found existence, which were not, 
however, permanent institutions. Some of the old and per- 



438 MADISON COUNTY. " 

manent firms increased largely, and some very fine build- 
ings were erected by them, which are still an ornament to 
the village. Mr. Hiram Savage, in company with Mr. 
Manning, Mr. Boone and Mr. Wheeler, commenced the Ex- 
change buildings. Mr. Savage had been one of the old 
firms of the village, having opened the tin and hardware 
business at an early day, in a shanty on the location of the 
present drug store of Bonney & Welton. He subsequently 
bought out and repaired the premises on Lebanon street, 
which he occupied so long as he remained in business here. 

The Exchange, of which Mr. Savage was one of the build- 
ers, was put up in sections of brick, Mr. Manning building 
that section next the canal, Mr. Savage the one now occu- 
pied by the marble shop, Mr. Boone the one now occupied 
by the harness shop of Mr. Buell, and all of them, together 
with Mr. Wheeler, the section on the west end. 

The Commercial Block was built during that period, 
which was also the enterprise of different individuals. The 
Eagle Hotel, so conspicuous from the country side of Ea- 
ton street, was erected as one of the needs of the times.* 
A third tavern was built by Mr. Wadsworth on Lebanon 
street near the canal, which Rufus Bacon, afterwards, for 
rnany years owned. This building, no longer needed as a 
hotel, has been converted into a tenant house and is now oc- 
cupied by five families. Mr. C. C. Payne opened a brick 
yard, and from the brick made there he built his own house, 
on Payne street. All those fine brick dwellings to be seen 
on that street, besides many others in the village, were 
erected about this period. 

Mr. Mott first established the mercantile business 

on a substantial basis. His sons, Smith and Addison Mott, 
succeeded him ; and on their retiring from business, it 
passed into the hands of a son of Smith, Mr. C. M. Mott, 
who perpetuates the good reputation of their house. 

The oldest house in the cabinet ware trade is that now 

'^We have not the names 01 thebuilders of other blocks. 



HAMILTON. 439 

belonging to Hall & Leach on Lebanon street. It was 
formerly the property of Erastus Wheeler who purchased it 
of the original proprietor, Mr. James Higgins, who came in 
i8 10, and opened the first cabinet shop of the village on 
Madison street. He continued here in business until about 
1825, when he sold to Erastus Wheeler, who had previously 
learned his trade in this shop. About 1834, Mr. Wheeler 
removed the shop to Lebanon street, where it is yet staad- 
ing, being added to by newer buildings. It is one of the 
old landmarks. The works increased rapidly and during 
the term when Wheeler & Parker constituted the firm, an 
engine was put in. C. B. Gardiner purchased Mr. 
Wheeler's interest in 1850, and it continued in the firm 
name of Parker & Gardiner until 1 866, when Gardiner & 
Hall owned the property. The firm name is now Hall & 
Leach. No trade in town has been more successful, for so 
many years, than this. Generally some dozen workmen are 
employed. 

Mr. E. Stillman had also one of the early cabinet shops 
of this village. He worked for Erastus Wheeler in his shop 
on Madison street in 1828, and first went into business in 
1833, in a shop which stood where, in 1840, he built his cab- 
inet warehouse on Lebanon street. His steady prosperity 
tells us of the soundness of the tradesmen of the past. Mr. 
Stillman continued in his trade till the time of his death, 
which is of recent occurrence. 

As early as 1831, Warren M. Rice came to this place, 
and in company with a Mr. Stoddard opened a shop and 
commenced boot making. They soon extended their busi- 
ness, keeping as many as fifteen workmen. Mr. Rice is still 
in the business, and since the war does not employ work- 
men. 

Mr. Thaxter Poole and Mr. Tucker have a shoe store, the 
former commencing in 1844, the latter joining him in 1846, 
They are one of the old firms of the village and have a 
good reputation. The harness making shop of Eli Buell 



440 MADISON COUNTY. 

was opened by him in 1842, when he commenced on a cap- 
ital of ^15. He prospered remarkably. Since 1844 he has 
been in the Exchange buildings. Foote & Gaskell, in the 
hardware business are an old firm. E. W. Foote com- 
menced in company with John Foote, Esq., and Capt. 
Steere, as early as 1840. After three years the firm con- 
sisted of only the Footes, and in three years more E. W. 
Foote became sole proprietor, and then established the first 
store, entirely devoted to the hardware trade, in the Chenan- 
go Valley. Gaskill became one of the firm at a late date. 

In addition to the above named mercantile concerns, 
Hamilton village has at the present day four dry goods 
stores besides that of C. M. Mott, viz : Stiles, Wedge & 
Co., W. A. Boyd, A. G. Slocum and O. L. Woodruff & Co. 

The drug store of J. Foote, now belonging to Bonney & 
Welton, is one of the long known stores of the village. 
Two other drug stores have been added to the trade, viz : 
H. P. Hartshorn, established in 1845 J ^^id Benedict & 
Banning, commenced in 1866.* 

The village has also at the present date, the Paterson's 
boot and shoe store ; Foster & Benedict, in the harness 
making business, also H. H. Nash in the same department ; 
the hardware store of Royce & Grosvenor ; four grocery 
stores ; two book stores ; two jewelers ; a good bakery ; 
the marble shop of H. P. Case & Co. ; Johnson's foundry, 
where castings and hop stoves are made ; three meat mar- 
kets ; one saloon ; three artists ; two milliners, viz : Mrs. 
Swift, and that of F. G. Rice, both on Eaton street ; two 
clothing stores, viz : Piotrow & Lewis, and I. M. Burnap. 

The great business of the canal is waning, robbed of its 
traffic by the railroad. Of the three large storehouses 
which were once a source of great revenue, but one is in 
operation, and this doing but little business. Mr. A. Peck 
attends to the forwarding, at the large storehouse on 
Eaton street, which formerly had so large a traffic as to re- 

* Now Palmiter & Simmons. 



HAMILTON. 441 

quire the enterprise of a large firm, of which Mr. Peck was 
the senior member. 

The Hamilton flouring mill long ago established, as the 
early history of this town tells us, is owned by Mr. James 
Furman, who purchased the property of Messrs. Oswood & 
Rogers, about 1849. This mill is a prosperous concern, and 
a useful institution to community. 

The tannery, also an old established concern built by a 
Mr. Orton, when the country was new, is yet largely useful 
under the care of the present proprietor, C. J. Johnson. 
The lumber yard of Mr. A. Z. Kingsley & Co., is another 
large business concern, in the vicinity of the mill and 
tannery ; and the Utica, Clinton and Binghamton Rail- 
road depot, located in this, the southwest part of the corpo- 
ration, make this part of the village a point of unusual ac- 
tivity. 

The old Town Hall, on Madison street, was originally 
built for the Free Church, when that body went out from 
the Congregationalists on account of the slavery agitation. 
They used this building so long as they remained a sepa- 
rate organization. Subsequently, the corporation obtained 
it for a Town Hall. Tripp's Hall, built by Melvin Tripp 
about 1870, is an elegant structure, suitable for all public 
meetings. It has recently been enlarged and refitted for 
use. It is on Lebanon street. 



Hamilton Bank was organized Feb. 19, 1853, and was in- 
corporated under the State laws, March i, 1853. Its capi- 
tal stock was $110,000, a majority of which was owned by 
people residing in this immediate vicinity, or had resided 
here. 

The first Board of Directors was composed of Adon 
Smith, Alvah Pierce, D. B. West, Lewis Wickwire, John J. 
Foote, Smith Mott, Wm. Felt, Alonzo Peek, William Cobb, 
Artemus Osgood, Henry Tower, Delos DeWolf Adon 
Smith was first President, and D. B. West, Cashier, who 



442 MADISON COUNTY. 

have continued in this office to the present day. The du- 
ties of the Board of Directors, were for a few years, very ar- 
duous, as several banking experiments had been unsuccess- 
ful here, and they determined to make this experiment sure. 
Their plan was fully carried out by the officers, and Hamil- 
ton Bank became one of the soundest and most prosperous 
institutions of the State. In 1865, this, in common with.^. 
other banks of the State, received a change in name, and 
thereafter became 

The National Bank of Hamilton, with the same capital 
as above. At the election of January, 1872, the same offi- 
cers were continued, and the Board of Directors the same, 
with the exception of Wm. Fairchild in place of Lewis 
Wickwire, deceased ; Linus H. Miller in place of Wm. Felt, 
deceased ; Wells C. Russell in place of William Cobb, de- 
ceased ; Sanford Gardner in place of Artemus Osgood, re- 
moved ; David W. Ingalls in place of Harry Tower, de- 
ceased ; Heman Howes in place of Delos DeWoIf, removed. 
The place of Heman Howes is made vacant by his recent 
death. 



Hamilton Lodge, No. 120, formerly No. 121, F. & A. M. 
This Lodge was installed on the 28th day of May, 1805, by 
Hon. and P. W. Jedediah Sanger of New Hartford, Oneida 
County, N. Y. First officers installed were Seeley Neal, 
W. M. ; Asa B. Sizer, S. W., and Rufus Eldred, J. W. 

There were twenty-seven members present, including the 
subordinate officers. On the same day the Lodge was duly 
organized. Thomas Hubbard, Dr. Thomas Greenly and 
John Shapley, were the first that were made Masons in 
Hamilton Lodge. 

At that day, Hamilton included Madison, and at the or- 
ganization of the Lodge, it was located in that part of the 
town now Madison. During the first year there were thir- 
ty-seven members made. In 1806, the " Sherburne Lodge" 
was formed from this. In the same year the Lodge was 



HAMILTON, 443 

removed to Hamilton village. In April, 1807, Alpheus 
Hitchcock was expelled on the charge of poisoning his wife. 
In December, 18 17, the Lodge was, by a vote, removed to 
Eaton, where it remained as long as the Lodge continued 
to work. 

Up to this period, 1827, this was a large and flourishing 
Lodge, and among its early and prominent members, we 
recognize the familiar and honorable names of Asa B. Sizer, 
Esq., Levi Love, Hon. Thomas H. Hubbard, William Cur- 
tis, Samuel Sinclair, Dr. Thomas Greenly,- Joseph Enos, 
Rufus Eldred, Hon. Erastus Cleaveland, Dr. Daniel Barker, 
Andrew P. Lord, William Berry, jr., Calvin Morse, Curtis 
Porter, Thos. Wylie, Ellis Morse, Ephraim Gray, Windsor 
Coman, Joseph Morse, Andrew C. Hull, David Darrow, 
Hon. Bennett Bicknell, Lyman G. Hatch, and Rev. Nathan- 
iel Stacy. Of the 123 members of the old Lodge, but twelve 
are now (May, 1872,) living, viz : Lyman G. Hatch, Wis- 
consin ; Andrew C. Hull, Angelica, N. Y. ; Orville Eldred, 
Wisconsin ; Heber Temple, Pratt's Hollow, N. Y. ; Benja- 
mm Choate, Eaton, N, Y. ; Alpha Morse, Angelica, N. Y. > 
Calvin Morse, Eaton, N. Y. ; James and Henry Cooledge, 
Madison, N. Y. ; Isaac and Ambrose Phelps, Solsville, N. 
Y., and Thomas H. Greenly, jr., Hamilton, N. Y. 

In 1829, this Lodge, with others, after due deliberation, 
decided, in consequence of the excitement caused by the 
abduction of William Morgan, to suspend their meetings for 
the present at least. 

From that period to 1846, the Lodge was closed ; mean- 
while, the charter was surrendered, and the hall and prop- 
erty, together with valuable records, was consumed by fire. 

In 1846, the Lodge was resuscitated, and commenced its 
work with a dispensation from Grand Lodge, with the name 
of 

Hamilton Lodge, No. 120. Its first meeting was held the 
1 6th day of December, 1846, at Odd Fellows' Hall. Offi- 
cers named in the dispensation were Charles G. Otis, Esq., 



444 MADISON COUNTY. 

W. M. ; Hon. B. F. Skinner, S. W. ; Gains Stebbins, J. 
W. The following were petitioning members : Thomas H. 
Greenly, Jeremiah Wilbur, Henry G. Beardsley, Thomas C. 
Nye, Daniel Younglove, Perez H. Bonney, Thomas Wylie, 
Curtis Porter, Daniel Barker, Isaac Phelps and Philander P. 
Barker. 

This Lodge has been exceedingly prosperous, and many 
eminent men are numbered among its ranks. 

SAMUEL PAYNE 

Was b »rn in the year 1760, in Lebanon, Conn. He was a 
lineal descendant from one of two brothers named Paine, 
who came to America from England, and landed at 
Plymouth in 162 1. One of the brothers settled in Conn., 
the other in Virginia. From these brothers all the 
American citizens of that name descended. 

John Paine, a brother of Samuel and Elisha Payne, con- 
ceived the idea of changing the orthography of his name, 
writing it Payne. Samuel and Elisha, subsequently, and 
before they came to Central New York, adopted the same 
form. 

Samuel Payne married Miss Betsey Stower, and removed 
from Lebanon, Conn., to Hamilton, Madison County, (then 
Paris, Herkimer County,) in the year 1794. Mr. Payne 
took up the farm which is now University Hill. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Payne possessed that energy and perseverance 
which well adapted them to the life of the pioneer. They 
encountered many novel, and often unpleasant experiences 
in their life in the woods, which were inhabited with deer, 
bears and Indians. It was no unusual thing to capture a 
bear, or shoot a dear upon their own farm, or near their 
dwelling. 

They were devoted christians, and hence it is recorded 
of Mr. Payne, that in the beginning when he had felled a 
large tree on his farm near where the University building 
now stands, he bowed his knee in the solitude of the wil- 
derness and prayed for food and raiment, and a people where- 



HAMILTON. 



445 



with to serve God, and consecrated himself and all he had 
to God's service. In 1796, two years after, was organized 
in the settlement a Baptist Church, which has existed to 
this day. 

Because of their prosperity, which they regarded as from 
the bounteous hand of Providence, they deemed it incum- 
bent upon them to return to God of the fruit of their 
increase. Consequently, in 1827, they gave their farm of 
123 acres, then valued at $4,000, — a small sum compared to 
the present value of such a larm — to the Baptist Education 
Society to locate thereon their Theological Institution. 
The whole was made over to the society by a warrantee 
deed, reserving to themselves the use of nearly one-half of 
the farm during their lives. They had no children, and 
therefore placed their affection on this Institution of learn- 
ing, which they made their pet, — their protege. 

Samuel Payne, in the early days of the settlement, was 
quite prominent in public matters, and was appointed one 
of the Judges of the County Court, by which title he was 
designated all his after life. But he had no ambition for 
the political arena, his tastes being of a religious character. 
He delighted in doing good and in spending his means for 
the advancement of the right. He was beloved by every- 
body, for his social, genial disposition. His cheerfulness 
was contagious. He loved children, and a group of half a 
dozen boys, (he used to hire boys for the sake of having 
them with him,) engaged in labor with him, grew so merry 
as to forget that labor was anything but a pastime. His 
companion shared the same cheerful and devoted spirit. 
Never was a couple more happily united than they in all 
good works. In a literary direction Mrs. Payne's mind was 
marked. Her proverbial kindness to the students in sick- 
ness, or in heed, gave her the title of "The Students' 
Mother." 

Judge Samuel Payne died in Hamilton, Aug. tq. 184^, 
aged 83 years. 



446 MADISON COUNTY. 

Mrs. Betsey Payne, died in Hamilton, January i, 1850, 
aged 86 years. 

ELISHA PAYNE 

Was born in Lebanon, Conn., in the year 1762. He mar- 
ried Miss Polly Brooks, Jan. 12, 1787, and in 1795, with his 
wife and four children, removed to Hamilton. His wife died 
in 1796. He afterwards married (Aug. 17, 1797,) Miss 
Esther Douglass, of Whicestown, N. Y. 

Elisha Payne was one of the few prominent men in the 
early history of this country, h's name appearing in the 
first courts, when this was a part of Chenango County. He 
was elected one of the Associate Judges in the first courts 
of Madison County in 1806, serving in this capacity with 
ability. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for many 
vears, and was chosen to other municipal offices. He en- 
gaged his physical energies in clearing up the wilderness 
on the village plot, and, consequently, served his terms on 
the bench, and returned to the clearing of his fields. There 
is an anecdote related which is characteristic. Judge Piatt 
came to Payne's settlement to" consult with Judge Payne on 
some official matters, and seeing several men at work, some 
of them barefooted, clearing up logs after a " burning," their 
clothes sooty, and their countenances begrimmed beyond 
recognition, he thus addressed the eldest man of the party : 
" Can you tell me where I can find Judge Payne.''" He 
was answered modestly, " I am called by that name, Sir ;" 
for it was no other than Judge Payne and his sons clearing 
land. " Is it possible !" said Judge Piatt in amazement, and 
yet with great courtesy, for the Judge was a true gentle- 
man. Mr. Payne led the way to his house, and after bath- 
ing and change of apparel, the two sat down to official 
business, when Judge Piatt expressed himself as delighted 
with the transformation wrought by so easy a process. 

With the same ease and ingenuity, Elisha Payne operated 
all his concerns, from the clearing up of his large farm, and 
attending to official matters, to the engineering of his plans 



HAMILTON. 447 

in making a village in this pretty valley. He came to the 
wilderness to found a village, and succeeded in bringing to- 
gether the elements which were to accomplish this result. 
He was not alone, however, in th's laudable work, as the 
history of the village will show ; but it was mostly from his 
farm, and by his efforts, that village lots were first laid out. 
He gave the land for the park, for the cemetery in the vil- 
lage, and from time to time gave other portions from his 
farm to encourage mechanics to settle here and build. 

There was, from a very early period, a strong competition 
between this village and central and east Hamilton, con- 
cerning the location of tJie village of the town. For a time, 
town meetings were held at the Center, so great was the 
strength there. But Hamilton village, enjoying better nat- 
ural advantages, aided by her strong men, so increased, as 
to bring the balance of power to her side ; and at length 
the central and east part developed into a farming country 
unsurpassed for its richness, and the village of Hamilton 
made marked progress. 

Judge Elisha Payne, being a man of great public spirit, 
enlisted heartily in this competition ; and in every enter- 
prise, from the beginning of the settlement to his death, his 
name is prominent. He died full of honors, at the ripe age^ 
of eighty years, in 1843. The Payne monument, bearing 
underneath his name, this inscription, " The Founder of 
Hamilton Village," stands conspicuous in the village ceme- 
tery. 

GEN. KING. 

" Nathaniel King was born at Amenia, Dutchess County, N. 
Y., Dec. 26th, 1767. His father, Samuel King, was a plain, 
well-to-do farmer, an ardent, christian patriot of the revolution, 
who sent an older son into the military service. But by the de- 
preciation in value of the old continental money, and especially in 
consequence of becoming surety for some friends, he lost most 
of his estate, and dying, left to his widow and youngest son only 
a small portion. The mother was a woman of intelligence, ar- 
dently pious, and possessed of much literary taste and laudable 
ambition. This mother lived to see her son well educated, and 



448 MADISON COUNTY. 

admitted to the practice of the law. He graduated at Yale Col- 
lege in 1792. 

We have here passed over a long interval, because we are 
not writing .Mr. King's life, but merely presenting him in his 
connection with the history of Hamilton. He came to that 
hamlet, then called ' Payne's Settlement,' in February, 1797. 
He found many friends, indeed, many with whom he had been 
acquainted in the eastern part of the State, such as Samuel and 
Ehsha Payne and their venerable parents, Dr. Luther Water- 
man, Dr. Thomas Greenly, Benjamin, Theophilus and William 
Pierce, Dr. Rogers, Jonathan Olmstead, Daniel Smith and others 
in the vicinity north and west of the village. His manners were 
pleasing, and he readily made acquaintances among the people. 
He attended to what law business the place afforded, but was 
emphatically a peace-maker, never fomenting quarrels between 
neighbors, but advising the arbitration of difficulties rather than 
'going to law.' He was soon made an Assistant Assessor, and 
also was appointed Justice of the Peace, (then an important of- 
fice,) by the council at Albany. Mr. King had previously made 
the acquaintance of some of the leading men at Albany, while 
finishing his law-clerkship there. 

Early in the winter of 1798, the people of Hamilton and 
other towns, became very desirous of a new county. They were 
then in the large county of Herkimer. So, on the assembling 
of the Legislature, they sent Mr. King to Albany to negotiate 
the erection of a new county. It was done, and the county 
named Chenango. The people of the new county held their 
election in April, and made Mr. King their first member of As- 
sembly. The voters were nearly all Federalists, of the good old 
stamp, — they loved the new United States Constitution and the 
Union. Governor John Jay called a special session of the Leg- 
islature to meet August i, 1798. The belligerents, England and 
France, had so disturbed our commerce, that he thought it nec- 
essary to take measures for its protection. In the spring of 
1799, Mr. King was re-elected to the Assembly. The next 
spring, he ran for Senator, but lost his election. There were 
several candidates, and he came out next to the winner. In the 
spring of 1 80 1, he was the third time returned to the Assembly. 
He declined further nomination, for he felt the necessity of at- 
tending more closely to business at home. 

Possessing much military taste, and having been commissioned 
Colonel of Militia, he conducted his ' trainings ' with efficiency 
and skill. These novel exhibitions of pleasing military evolu- 
tions served to enliven the stillness of this wild settlement. Just 
at the end of 1803, he married Miss Ottillia Mayer, the young 
step-daughter of Deacon Olmstead. He had previously purchas- 
ed of Elisha Payne about five acres of land fronting on Lebanon 



HAMILTON. 



449 



Street, from the Pa3aie corner westward, and erected there a 
Jarge and commodious office, in which he first kept house. This 
building is still standing on Mill orMillvvard street, having been 
removed from its original location on Lebanon street and some- 
what enlarged and improved. In his early practice, Mr. King 
was favored with some talented law students, such as Moses 
Sawyer, Abram Payne, Jonathan Pettit and John G. Stower. 

About this time, Thomas H. Hubbard came to Hamilton 
from Connecticut, a young lawyer and college graduate. His 
fine residence on the east side of Broad street was afterwards 
owned by John G. Stower, and later by James B. Eldredge. 
The intimate association with this family of refined and elegant 
manners will long be remembered by the children of Mr. King. 
The village was growing rapidly, for these times ; frame build- 
ings and some brick ones were everywhere replacing the early 
log houses. A large school house was the place of public wor- 
ship. It was also used for Courts and other assemblings. Mr. 
King applied himself to law business, and was appointed a 
Master in Chancery. In the meantime he was also attentive to 
his military duties, and at length was promoted to the rank of 
Major General. In 1807, he received an important office — he 
was made a District Attorney. His District embraced five 
counties, Herkimer, Onondaga, Cayuga, Cortland and Madison. 
He was obliged to be much from home attending Courts through- 
out this extensive Circuit ; this office was quite lucrative. 
Hostsof counterfeit and other felons were efficieritly brought to 
justice. He bought at this time a fine tract of woodland in 
Lebanon, afterwards sold to the late Curtis Hoppin, Esq. De- 
signing to build a dwelling, he purchased of Dr. Greenly and 
Mr. Joseph Colwell about two acres of land on the west side of 
Broad street, south of the Payne corner. Here he built a com- 
modious dwelling after his own taste. He was able to com- 
mand for this purpose the best pine lumber from his own timber 
lot in North Norwich, Chenango County. The house was fin- 
ished in 18 1 2. Benjamin F. Bonney now owns this house re- 
paired and remodeled. In 1812, Gen. King resigned the office 
of District Attorney, also he joined the Republican party. 

In 1814, incensed at the meanness of the British in burning 
a part of Washington City, Gen. King asked his personal and 
political friend, Gov. Daniel D. Tompkins, to send him into the 
service. Of course, the frontier of New York was much men- 
aced on the north, and Gov. Tompkins had been on the alert, 
first sending a large body of men drafted irom. the militia of this 
State ; then, as matters grew more threatening, ordering the 
militia, en masse, to Sackett's Harbor. By the Governor's or- 
der, Gen. King repaired to that place early in October, 18 14, 

C2 



450 MADISON COUNTY. 

and organized into a Division, and took command of all the 
militia at that post and in the neighborhood. A little incident 
here illustrates his humane disposition. At a place a few miles 
this side of Sackett's Harbor, he met a young officer, who con- 
fessed he was dcsert'mg. Gen. King persuaded him to go back 
and do his duty. He went, and was pardoned. The officer 
whom Gen. King superseded was Brigadier General Collins, who 
had been in command for some time. He sent a sergeant and 
file of men to arrest this deserter^ while at a hotel. Gen. King 
being present, pleasantly dismissed the men, saying that he was 
now commander. The young officer did not abuse this lenity, 
but performed his duty with fidelity. A great rain set in, and 
the post was a low, unhealthy marsh. Much sickness prevailed 
among the troops, and Gen King readily discharged all the sick 
who could be removed by their friends. For this merciful con- 
duct he afterwards received most grateful, acknowledgmenis 
Gen. Jacob Brown, of the regular army, arrived with a body of 
United States troops, and took the supreme command. Gen. 
King under him, retaining his command of all the militia. The 
place was now so strong that the expected attack of the British 
was not made. They would have met a repulse like that of 
New Orleans, had they made the attempt. Peace dawned upon 
us early in 1815, and Gen. King came home, but remained 
in the service some months, superintending courts martial, 
which he ordered in three places to try the militia delinquents 
and deserters ; these courts, however, were very lenient, and 
the General approved their course. 

In April, 18 16, Gen. King was sui'ldenly bereaved of his be- 
loved wife. She left five children. He afterwards married Miss 
Mary Bates, of Paris, Oneida County, who died at the end of 
thirteen months, leaving an infant son. Mr. King resigned the 
office of Major-General, and was for some years a County Judge 
In the winter of 1818, he was much engaged in helping Revolu- 
tionary soldiers to get pensions under the recent laws. He was 
also much occupied in mathematical disquisitions and studies, 
corresponding with Prof. Strong, of Hamilton College, Clinton, 
Oneida County, and other eminent scholars. The lamented 
Prof. A. M. Fisher, of Yale College, was one of them. Mr. 
King's solutions of difficult problems were published in several 
magazines —also neat and ingenious questions. He also exer- 
cised his mechanical ingenuity, and among other inventions may 
be named his Tellurian, for illustrating all the motions of the 
earth, and es^ecmWy ihc precession of the equinoxes. In Novem- 
ber, 18 18, he married his third wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Tefft, of 
Hamilton, who lived with him thirty years, and ably and ten- 
derly assisted him to bring up his and her children, and survived 
him only a few months. 



HAMILTON. 



451 



In the winter of 18 19, the first preachers of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church came to Hamilton village. Some will recol- 
lect the honored names of Abner Chase, Dan. Barnes and 
George Gary. S. Wesley Higgins was an interesting young 
novitiate, who preached some in the village, but more on Bonnev 
Hill. There was a powerful revival of religion amongst the 
Baptists, Methodists and others, extending through many towns. 
This w'.nter the first Methodist Society was collected in Hamil- 
ton. James Higgins was the first class leader, the next was 
Stephen Stocking. These had been Methodists previously, 
as also were Jonathan Greig and his wife and daughter Susan, 
the parents and sister of Mrs. King. Of new members in the 
village, there were Mr. King, Mrs. Eunice M. Weaver, Reuben 
Ransom and others. Mr. King was a zealous member, and lent 
pecuniary aid according to his ability, and labored in the good 
cause of religion, especially in his own fiimily, — giving his child- 
ren much instruction in the Holy Scripture. His tender 
exhortations and prayers in the family and elsewhere are not 
forgotten. 

In 18 1 8, Mr. King was one of the Board of twenty-four 
Trustees to found the Hamilton Academy. He helped buy the 
land, a lot next south of his own homestead, and afterwards 
contributed lumber and money. The brick building was rapidlv 
put up, and the two large lower rooms finished, so that district 
school was held there in the winter of 1819, taught by Reuben 
Ransom. The Baptist Educational Society had put on a third 
storv for their school. Early in the spring of 1820, the second 
story was mostly finished, and Mr. King commenced teaching 
the Academy on the first of May. He took delight in teaching, 
having been successful in it before and after he went to college. 
His learning was extensive and varied, and he had a rare facility 
of communicating knowledge. He excelled in teaching the 
Latin and Greek languages, all branches of Mathematics, 
Rhetoric, English Grammar, Composition and Elocution. 
Having no assistant, the scholars were few and mostly young 
men, but these found the cultivation of their taste and the 
improvement gained, invaluable to them in after life. He 
relinquished this business toward the end of the year 182 t, and 
Zenas Morse began in the spring of 1822. He long and ably 
taught the Hamilton Academy. For years after, Mr. King was 
frequently resorted to by scholars, (and sometimes by teachers,) 
with hard fUits for him to crack, in the Classics or Mathematics, 
or in English Grammar. He took up the hammer with alacrity 
and was soon able to liberate from their obstinate envelopes the 
precious imprisoned kernels. Mr. King was an amateur farmer, 
but paid most attention to the cultivation of fruit trees, 
as the apple, cherry, plum at>d pear. Jle had grafted 



452 MADISON COUNTY. 

with his own hand his fine young apple orchard of 165 
trees, procuring scions from Long Island and New Jersey. 
He was fond of raising winter wheat. His last crop of 
this was in 1825, on the acre on Broad street, which he after- 
wards divided and sold one-half to Amos Crocker in 1826, and 
the other to the Trustees of the Congregational Church in 1828. 

In his later years, Mr. King retired in a considerable degree 
from the practice of his profession, only engaging in it occa- 
sionally, and then upon what he thought to be the equitable side. 
His knowledge of law was profound, and he never engaged in 
the prosecution of a case without the most thorough preparation. 
In this particular he was remarkable through his life, and law- 
yers now speak of his elegant pleas as recorded on the books. 
In some of these cases his efforts were crowned with complete 
success. He was strict in his adherence to temperance and en- 
tered with considerable spirit into the other reforms of the day. 

Aside from his superior education, Mr. King possessed a 
mind of the highest order, and a singular versatility of talent. 
From boyhood he was passionately devoted to literature, and 
read all the best authors. And in his advanced years he was 
emphatically a student, keeping bright the studies pursued in 
his youth, reading with tearful enthusiasm, Homer, Virgil and 
Milton, as his pastime. He was in the habit of frequently com- 
posing, especially in poetry, and some choice poems, not yet 
made public, have been preserved. At times, he was called 
upon to write poems or addresses for public gatherings, as for 
the Fourth of July; and on the occasion of the death of Adorns 
and Jefferson, in 1826, he prepared and delivered an eloquent 
oration in the Baptist meeting house. A passage in it repre- 
sented these patriots as arranging the time of their departure : — 
' I will set out from Quincy, you from Monticello ; we will meet 
in the regions ot the air.' 

But in his domestic relations, and in the sublime truths and 
substantial comforts of the christian religion, Mr. King foimd 
his richest enjoyment, and used to say, with the utmost sinceri- 
ty, using the language of Holy Writ : ' I have no greater joy 
than to see my children walking in the trufh.' The final scene 
of his existence' was peaceful, in view of the future. He ex- 
pressed an unfaltering trust in the Redeemer. His illness was 
o'' short duration, and his death occurred at Hamilton, July 25, 
1848."* 



JOHN FOOTE, ESQ., 

Was born April 30, I/86, in Colchester, Conn. He came to 

* Contributed bv a friend. 



HAMILTON. 453 

Sherburne in 1795, with his father, Hon, Isaac Foote,* 
widely known as the first Judge of Chenango County Courts, 
when Madison County was included in its territory. 

When Mr. Foote first came to Chenango County, all about 
him was an unbroken forest. The nearest grist mill was 
eighteen or twenty miles distant, and it was as far to a saw 
mill. The floor of his log house was made of split basswood 
timber, the roof covered with bark, in which was an open- 
ing for the escape of smoke ; oiled paper, instead of glass, 
served for windows for a year or more. A yoke of oxen 
and two cows subsisted on browse, mostly, the first winter, 
when the snow was from three to tour feet deep, with a 
crust of sufficient strength for the cattle and deer to walk 
upon, so that snow shoes were dispensed with during the 
months of January and February. This primitive dwelling, 
and these unusual circumstances, became firmly fixed as the 
earliest recollections of the subject of this sketch. 

About 1796, the inhabitants had increased to such ex- 
tent, that, though a yet comparatively wilderness country, a 
physician located himself there, and, on one occasion, hav- 
ing need of medicines, dispatched the boy " Johnny " Foote 
to Utica to procure drugs. This was a considerable jour- 
ney for a boy nine or ten years of age to perform, marked 
trees and an Indian path being the chief indication of the 
course to pursue, and only six houses on the whole route of 
forty miles. Utica, as it was then, formed a picture in the 
lad's memory, to remain there forever after. He went to 
the drug store, kept by Wolcote & Guiteau, in a small build- 
ing set on posts driven in the quagmire, similar to posts on 
which corn houses are placed. There was a house where 
Bagg's tavern afterwards stood, and there was a small house 
one-half a mile easterly from this, occupied by Col. Walker, 
a land agent. This comprised the village of Utica, (or 
rather old Fort Schuyler,) in 1796. The road, if road it 

* Judge Foote died in Smyrna, Feb. 27, 1826, in the 97th year of his age. 



454 MADISON COUNTY. 

might be called, between Utica and New Hartford, was 
nothing better than a quagmire, most of the way. 

Amid such unpropitious surroundmgs, the boyhood of 
John Foote was spent, but they served to develop sterling 
qualities which characterized his after life. He entered the 
law office of Hon. Thos. H. Hubbard, as a student, and 
about 1813 commenced the practice of law in Hamilton. 
In 18 1 2, he married Miss Mary Johnson. He is now the 
oldest lawyer of Hamilton vilbige. He has held the office 
of Justice of the Peace, and Master in Chancery.* 

John Foote, Esq., is characterized for his upright princi- 
ples, his integrity, and a scrupulous regard for justice. He 
made himself conspicuous in his early efforts in behalf of 
temperance, in which cause he first took a decided stand in 
1824, and was identified with the first temperance society of 
Hamilton. He was subsequently identified with several of 
the organized bodies to suppress the traffic in liquors. 

During the anti-slavery agitation, the Female Anti- 
Slavery Association of Hamilton was organized at his 
house, he giving the unpopular cause his aid and encourage- 
ment. (Note /.) 

John Foote has always distinguished himself by his strict 
adherence to his principles of right, and for his practical 
living up to the theories he so earnestly advocated. He 
still lives in Hamilton village, enjoying remarkable health, 
at the ripe age of eighty-six. 

EARLY PRORJINENT MEN OF HAMILTON. 

Dr. Thomas Greenly,, the pioneer physician of Hamilton, 
came from Connecticut in 1796, then twenty-five years of 
age. In the wilderness, he made a home, to which he 
brought his wife and child in January, 1797. Among the 
pioneers he established an honorable reputation as a man, 
and in his practice gained a wide influence, and secured en- 

* Hon. John J Foote, son of John F. ote, was elected State Senator from this 
District for 1858-9. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in i860, 
[ ohn J Foote was one of the Presidential Electors. 



HAMILTON. 455 

viable success. It has been said of him : " He was a man 
of marked character, honest, plain and outspoken, free from 
hypocrisy or deceit, of strong mind and eminent in his pro- 
fession." 

He was elected to the Legislature twice, the years 1818 
and 1819, and was four years in the Senate of this State, 
being elected from the Fifth Senatorial District in 1822. 
When in the Senate, he was one of the " immortal seven- 
teen " who abstained from voting, that a certain measure in 
reference to a change in the Constitution, concerning Presi- 
dential Electors, might not be passed at that critical period, 
pending the election in which Andrew Jackson and John 
Q. Adams were running for the Presidency. 

During the Doctor's term in the Senate, his large medi- 
cal practice ih Hamilton slipped away into other hands, and 
it is said, that on his return, he declared he would get it 
back if he worked for nothing. He had no serious difficul- 
ty in winning it back, when once his indomitable will and 
genius were employed in that direction. 

Dr. Greenly was for some years Brigade Inspector of the 
Thirty-Fifth Brigade of New York Militia. In all positions 
he was characterized by integrity, and honored every sta- 
tion he was called to fill. He is remembered by Hamilto- 
nians for his characteristic independence, and his original 
" speeches," the coin of wit, 

Hon. Thomas H. Hubbard came to Hamilton from Al- 
bany, where he finished his law education, in 1804 or 1805, 
and commenced the practice of law. 

His superior talents, cultivated by a fine scholastic edu- 
cation, and his thorough training as a lawyer, soon won him 
an extensive practice in this and Chenango County. On 
the organization of Madison County, in 1806, he was ap- 
pointed its first Surrogate, which office he held, and dis- 
charged its duties with ability, about ten years. He was 
appointed District Attorney in 18 17, but was elected to 
represent the then Congressional District of Madison and 



456 MADISON COUNTY. 

Herkimer in tlie U. S. Senate, for the term of 1817 
-19. He was also elected to serve a second time for 
1821-23. After the formation of the second Constitution, 
he was appointed Clerk of the Supreme Court, (when he re- 
moved to Utica,) the duties of which office he discharged 
with great ability for many years, and fixually retired from 
public life, having, by his prudence and industry, accumu- 
lated ample means to live, and spend his declining years in 
affluence and ease. He was a man greatly beloved for his 
many virtues and the purity of his life, and Hamilton is 
justly proud to claim him as one of its early law-givers. He 
died in Utica, the city and home of his adoption, in 1853, 
with the bright hope of the christian, so well exemplified in 
his life. 

Hon. John G. Stower studied law with Judge Hubbard, 
and after having completed his studies, was, by Mr. Hub- 
bard, received in co-partnership, with whom he continued 
until the removal of the latter to Utica. John G. Stower 
was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1821, 
serving till 1827. In 1827, he was elected to Congress 
from the Twenty-Second Congressional District, serving 
one term. Judge Stower was a man of great abilities, 
marred by one failing, intemperance. His remarkable tal- 
ents won him great influence, so that he was exceedingly 
popular, and warmly beloved in a wide circle of friends. 

Judge Philo Gridley, one of the Justices of the Supreme 
Court, was, at one period, practicing law in Hamilton vil- 
lage, in co-partnership with Judge Stower. 

John Adams Smith, son of William S. Smith, was one of 
the practicing lawyers of the old Courts of this county, 
and was, at one period, in law partnership with Judge 
H abbard. 

Later Lawyers of Hamilton. — Hon. Charles Mason was 
born in Plattsburgh in this State. He is a man of strong 
mind and industrious habits, also a self made man, of 
common academical education. He commenced reading 



HAMILTON. 457 

law in Plattsburgh about 1828. Some two years after he 
went to Watertown and entered the law office of Mr. Ruger. 
He was admitted to the bar about 1832, when he formed a 
co-partnership with Mr. Ruger and remained with him in 
practice until the fall of 1838, About this time Judge 
Gridley, residing in this place, was appointed to the bench 
of the Supreme Court, when Mr. Mason came here, and in 
company with Amos Crocker, took and continued Judge 
Gridley's business. He continued with Mr. Crocker till 
1842. In 1844 and '45. he was in company with George W. 
Hungerford who came from Watertown. In 1845 he was 
appointed District Attorney for Madison County, which 
office he filled till June, 1847, when he was elected Justice 
of the Supreme Court, and entered upon the discharge of 
those duties the first of July following. He held this 
office by re-election till 1768, when he resigned to accept 
the appointment of Judge of the Court of Appeals. He is 
now practicing in the higher courts. 

Hon. Joseph Mason, commenced reading law in the 
office of his brother Charles Mason, in 1845, ^"^1 was 
admitted to practice in the general term held in Morrisville 
in 1 849. He immediately opened a law office here ; was 
elected Justice of the Peace, and in 1863 was elected 
County Judge and Surrogate of Madison County. 

Judge Mason's decisions while upon the bench were 
seldom appealed from, for the good reason, that such cases 
received a studious examination and the decisions were 
rendered strictly in accordance with the law and the testi- 
mony. He has a lucrative business in Hamilton. 

Sherwood & Nye were lawyers in practice here for a 
number of years, both from DeRuyter. Sherwood went 
to Texas soon after its annexation. James W. Nye con- 
tinued for a time his office, alone. He was regarded as one 
of the ablest lawyers of our time for his speaking talent at 
the bar. He was elected Brigadier-General, was Judge and 
Surrogate of Madison County in 1844, serving to 1851, 



458 MADISON COUNTY, 

and was appointed Master and Examiner in Chancery. He 
removed to New York and was subsequently appointed 
Governor of Nevada, and ably discharged the duty of that 
position through his term. His course was characterized 
by his successful efforts in establishing law, order and 
religion in the territory. He has since been elected to 
the U. S. Senate^ where his talents have made him conspic- 
uous. 

H. C. Goodwin & D. J. Mitchell, constituted one of the • 
most active law firms in this village. H. C. Goodwin died 
while in the achievement of success. D. J. Mitchell is now 
practicing law in Syracuse. He is regarded as one of the 
ablest lawyers of Central New York. 

A. N. Sheldon & James B. Eldredge, formed a law part- 
nership in 1845. Mr. Eldredge had been Member of Legisla- 
ture in 1 8 16- 1 7 from this county, and again in 1827, and was 
re-elected in 1829. He was made Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas in 1840. The firm of Sheldon & Eldredge 
continued together till 1848. Judge Eldredge has since 
died. Mr. Sheldon is still in the business. 

J. Sterling Smith, a lawyer of ability, was at one time 
and for some years in practice here. He received the 
appointment of Assistant U. S. District Attorney, and 
went to Washington about 1866. 

D. G. Wellington came in 1861, having been admitted to 
the bar at the Albany General Term, in May, 185 1, and 
entered the law office of J. S. Smith, and remained there 
till Nov., 1862, when he enlisted in the army to help subdue 
the Great Rebellion. He was promoted to first Lieut, of Co. 
A., 176th Regiment, in 1863, After this he was taken 
prisoner by the rebels and was held till 1864, when he was 
released and mustered out of service. On his return 
to Hamilton he again entered the office of J. S. Smith. 
When Mr. Smith resigned his office of Justice of the 
Peace to accept his promotion, Mr. Wellington was 
appointed to fill his unexpired term, and served till 1868, 



HAMILTON. 459 

and was then elected to Legislature. He has since con- 
tinued his office in Hamilton. 

Some of the Physicians of Hamilton. — Dr. Peter B. Ha- 
vens was one of the old physicians and surgeons of this 
village. He was widely known and employed for his 
great skill and success in cases requiring surgical treat- 
ment. He was succeeded by his son, P. B. Plavens, who 
is still practicing medicine and surgery in this village. 
Dr. Henry G. Beardsley was a practicing physician and 
surgeon for more than thirty years, being established 
here before 1830. He was commissioned First Asst. 
Surgeon in the 114th Reg. N. Y. V. and served with cred- 
itable success. Dr. Sherman Kimberly commenced prac- 
tice in this place in 1836 as a Botanic Physician. He 
gradually changed his practice to the Eclectic Schocl. He 
is now the oldest medical practitioner in this village, and 
has had a most extensive practice, both in medicine and 
surgery. The other present resident physicians are Dr. 
Frank D. Beebe, who commenced practice here in 1864, 
he having previously been First Asst. Surgeon in the 157th 
Reg. N. Y. v., serving in the army of the Potomac, partici- 
pating in the battles of Chancellorville, Gettysburg and 
others till the war closed ; Dr. G. L. Gifford of the Homoe- 
pathic School, who came in 1865. He practices surgery as 
well as medicine and has good success. Also Miss Dr. 
Amelia Tompkins, the first woman physician of Hamilton, 
who came in 1865. She is a regular graduate from the 
" Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania." She has bad 
good success in her profession and has all the practice she can 
attend. 

Dr. A. D. Head, physician and surgeon, has recently 
commenced practice here and is making progressive steps 
toward being successfully established. 

MADISON UNIVERSITY AND HAMILTON LITERARY AND THIO- 
LOGICAL SEMINARY. 

This Institution was the offspring of the Baptist Educa- 



460 MADISON COUNTY. 

tion Society of New York State, which was formed in 18 17, 
in behalf of ministerial education. This society was origi- 
nated by five or six individuals in Hamilton, who met at the 
house of Samuel Payne in the spring of that year, when 
they ventured to issue a call, inviting the friends of the 
cause to meet in Hamilton on the 24th day of the ensuing 
September. This call was sent to the Western Baptist 
Magazine and was published on the cover of that periodical. 
The 24th of September arrived and but thirteen responded 
to the call, who were : Rev. Daniel Hascall, Rev. Nathaniel 
Kendrick, Rev. P. P. Roots, Rev. John Bostwick, Rev. Joel 
W. Clark, Rev. Robert Powell, Rev. Amos Kingsley, Dea. 
Jonathan Olmstead, Dea. Samuel Payne, Dea. Samuel Os- 
good, Thomas Cox, Elisha Payne, Esq., and Dr. Charles W. 
Hull. They were convened at the residence of Dea. Olm- 
stead, located about one mile from the village of Hamilton, 
directly south, a little below University Hill. 

As an earnest of their faith, these thirteen commenced 
by paying ^i each into the treasury. This was the seed 
sown, the germ of the widely known Madison University, 
which was planted in the hearts of a few noble christian 
men who struggled with poverty Notwithstanding, they 
immediately set about the work with unparalleled energy. 
An address, which was an appeal Tor ministerial education, 
was published, and 500 copies circulated. Nearly forty 
agents were appointed in the central and eastern portions of 
the State, who were expected to work gratuitously to ob- 
tain subscriptions to the work. 

The first report of the Baptist Education Society has the 
list of the first seventy contributors, which is a " memorial 
of good men," whose offerings were made out of principle 
and pure warm hearts, toward the work. The aggregate 
subscriptions of that list were ^2,118.88. 

The committee appointed to locate the school were 
chosen from widely-separated localities, that the pending 
question might be fairly adjusted. This was at length set- 







til IS 



■llllfl 



iiiiiiiilil iiii 



HAMILTON. 461 

tied at a meeting held in Peterboro, Nov. 3, 18 19. Hamil- 
ton was to have the location of the proposed school, pro- 
vided, " that the people in the village and vicinity pay over 
to the institution the sum of six thousand dollars in the 
following manner, viz : three thousand five hundred dollars 
to be laid out in buildings to be completed within four 
years, and two thousand five hundred dollars to be paid in 
board at one dollar and fifty cents a week, in five equal an- 
nual payments." A place for the school was also to be 
furnished by the ist of May, 1820. These conditions were 
accepted, and securities furnished for the fulfillment of the 
coiitract. 

The first pupil was Jonathan Wade, who was examined 
en the 14th of February, 1818, and immediately placed un- 
kr the charge of Rev. Daniel Hascall. During the interval 
between that and the time when the school was perma- 
nently opened in May, 1820, thirteen had shared the bene- 
factions of the society, who had been under instruction 
mostly at Whitesboro and Hamilton. May i, 1820, with 
ten students, the school was formally opened in the village 
of Hamilton, occupying the third story of the brick building 
of the village academy. Rev. Daniel Hascall, pastor of the 
Baptist Church, consented to occupy the po-t as Principal, 
being the only teacher the first year, for which he received 
the moderate sum of ^22.50 a month. 

In 1828 the first edifice, the stone building on the plain. 
(in the village,) was erected. It was 36 x 64 feet, and three 
stories high, with rooms for students, and apartments for 
recitation and rhetorical purposes. This cost over five 
thousand dollars. The help in furnishing these apartments 
came, in a great measure, from female sewing societies, 
[This building, after being vacated by the institution, was 
used for the male department of the Hamilton Academy, 
under the principalship of Prof Zenas Morse and his suc- 
cessors.] 

With what absorbing interest ^0 we learn of the various 



462 MADISON COUNTY. 

dealings of Providence, evident in all the great movements 
connected vvi'h the institution. Hascall and Kendrick. 
were men who had faith in Providence. They were men, 
also, who were especially endowed for the herculean work. 
The heart and purse of another good man and his wife were 
also in the work — Deacon Samuel Payne and Mrs. Be'sey 
Payne, who made the gift of their farm of 123 acres, valued 
then at $4,000, to the school, in 1826. This is Univer- 
sity Hill, on which the buildings are erected. No love- 
lier place, and none with so commanding a view of the 
beautiful valley, could have been selected. At the same time 
with the erection of the " Wes ern Edifice," a commodious 
boarding hall was built in the immediate vicinity, which 
has been removed, and its place is occupied with a noble 
building called the " Hall of Alumni and Friends," which 
now places the Western Edifice in the middle. In 1833, the 
" Eastern Edifice" was built ; in 1838, the present Board- 
ing Hall. Up to 1839, the expenses of students were reg- 
ulated with reference to their benefit, on terms which at 
the present day seem incredible. The price of board, which 
had been ninety cents per week, was raised that year to 
one dollar. The tuition in the academic department was 
raised from four to six dollars per quarter, and in the col- 
legiate, from four to eight dollars. In the Theological 
department, tuition was rendered gratuitous, the salaries for 
Professors in this branch being raised by subscription. 

In 1846, this institution was incorporated as the " Madi- 
son University," date of the charter being March 26, 1846. 
From its first opening, it has borne different names, to wit : 
" School," " Seminary," " Hamilton Literary and Theologi- 
cal Institution," and finally " Madison University," — all of 
which have been applied to it on the occasion of certaM 
changes which have taken place in it- improvements. 

In 1847, there commenced a series of efforts to remove 
Madison University from Hamilton to Rochester, N. Y., 
which had the effect to seriously, but temporarily, depress 



HAMILTON. 463 

the affairs of both Society and University. The case was^ 
as a last resort, carried into the Courts, the counsel for the 
removalists being Samuel Stevens and Hamilton Harris of 
Albany, and for the Bap. Ed. Society, Timothy Jenkins, 
Charles P. Kirkland and James W. Nye. The final hear- 
ing" of the case was before Judge Philo Gridley, April 23, 
1850, when the decree established forever Madison Univer- 
sity and the Theological Seminary in the village of Hamil- 
ton. When those efforts ceased, two years of recuperation 
saw the same institution stand forth on a strengthened pe- 
cuniary basis, its amount of property more than doubled, its 
number of students more than tripled. 

Rev. Daniel Hascall, A. M., was Principal and Professor 
o; Sacred Rhetoric from May, 1820 to 1836. Rev. Na- 
thaniel Kendrick, D. D., first President, which he continued 
to be to the time of his death, in 1848. Stephen W. Tay- 
lor, LL. D., was President from 185 1 to 1856. He died 
January 7, 1856. Rev. George W. Eaton, D. D., LL. D., 
was elected President in 1856, and served till 1871. He 
died in Hamilton, August 3, 1872, aged 68 years. Rev. 
Ehenezer Dodge, D. D., LL. D., was elected President of 
the University in 1868. 

The Library of the University contains over 8,000 vol- 
umes of choice books in all languages, and treating upon all 
subjects. The chemical and philosophical apparatus are 
excellent ; the cabinet of geology and mineralogy and col- 
lection in ornithology and conchology, are very rare and val- 
uable. There is on the premises, besides the east and 
west college, — the former 100x56 feet, and four stories 
hi2:h, the latter 100x60 feet, four stories, — and Alumni 
Hall, 107 X 73 feet, a Gymnasium, Boarding Hall, and 
President's and Professors' houses, all charmingly situated. 

It seems no more than just that the friends of Madison 
University, who have contributed to sustain it through all 
changes, should be named in this connection. Besides 
Hascall and Kendrick, many others have come forward and 



464 MADISON COUNTY 

noblv stood by the Institution. In Hamilton, Elisha and 
Samuel Payne, Jonathan Olmstead, Seneca B. Burchard 
and his father Jabez Burchard, William Cobb, Alvah Pierce, 
C. C. Payne, and many others whose names we have not ; 
also, those indefatigable laborers in the institution, Dr. P. 
B. Spear, Dr. G. W. Eaton, Professor S. W. Taylor, &c. 
Among the devoted women may be named Mrs. Betsey 
Payne, wife of Samuel Payne ; Mrs. Sophia Hascall, wife of 
Rev. Daniel Hascall ; Mrs. Deacon Colgate of New Yoik 
and Mrs. Huldah Thompson of Troy. Other noble individ- 
uals, whose munificent benefactions have lifted the Univer- 
sity out of its difficulties, placed it on a safe pecuniary basis, 
and amply endowed it, viz : Friend Humphrey, William Col- 
gate, Garret N. Bleecker, Alexander M. Beebee, besides 
many others whose lesser benefactions have rendered mate- 
rial aid. From this list of heroic and self-sacrificing indi- 
viduals, many have passed on to their eternal reward. 

REV. DANIEL HASCALL, A. M. 

Daniel Hascall was born in Bennington, Vt., Feb. 24, 
1782. He was a graduate from Middlebury College, Vt., in 
1806. He was subsequently a teacher, studying theology 
at the same time under private tutors, in Pittsfield, Mass. 
In 1808, he was ordained as pastor at Elizabethtown, Essex 
County, N. Y. In 181 3, he was called to the pastorate of 
the Baptist Church at Hamilton, Madison County. 

Rev. Daniel Hascall was the originator of the idea of 
founding an .institution for the education of the Baptist 
ministry in Central New York, and to him is undoubtedly 
due, more than to any other one man, the origin of the 
Hamilton Literary and Theological Institute, hence, by 
common consent, he is regarded as the founder. In the build- 
ing up of the great work, Hascall and Kendrick were co- 
workers, and were equal sharers in perfecting the grand 
plan. These men were unlike, and yet always agreed. 
One fitted to comprehend the requirements and needs of 
the work, in which the other might be wanting. Each 



HAMILTON. 465 

were great in their own way, and the two made a perfect 
whole, which so great an enterprise required ; yea, were nec- 
essary to give body, life and soul to the Institution. Rev. 
Mr. Hascall so placed his heart upon the work, that he was 
ready to become a servant to all, if he could thereby push 
forward an enterprise he firmly believed to be of God and 
not of man. He was a man of remarkable faith. Impossi- 
bilities, or such as seemed so to be, were achieved through 
a perfect trust in Divine Providence. An instance in point 
is related as follows: When the Western Edifice was being 
erected, the funds failed and there was no known source to 
draw from. The workmen, impatient for their wages, re- 
fused to proceed. Professor Hascall, having the charge of 
the work, was under sore trial, and as usual in difficulties, 
counseled with his valued and peerless wife. They spent 
most of the night in earnest supplication and prayer. The 
Board also appointed a day of fasting and prayer, with the 
same object in view. Mark the result. In a few days. Dr. 
Stephen Gano, of Providence, R. I., was induced to visit 
Hamilton under the most singular circumstances. A mem- 
ber of his congregation, the late Nicholas Brown, Esq., 
came to him one day with an urgent desire that he visit 
Hamilton to inquire into the affairs of the Institution, 
" for," said he, " I cannot sleep ; they are in trouble there ; 
I dream about them nightly." Nothing would satisfy Mr. 
Brown till his pastor made the journey, he staying some ten 
days in Hamilton and thoroughly acquainting himself with 
the school, its plans and its needs. The result was, Mr. 
Brown forwarded his pledge of ^1,000 toward the new build- 
ing. 

Rev. Daniel Hascall was a man of sound judgment. 
Every lineament of his countenance indicated a clear prac- 
tical head. His comprehensive view took in the bearings 
of every minute matter at a glance. He was found to be, 
instinctively, where help was needed, with an ever ready, 
helping hand. In the mechanical work of the institutiorh, 

D2 



466 MADISON COUNTY, 

his handiv/ork is particularly noticeable. Its very walls are 
imbued with his spirit. The first edifice, built in 1823, and 
the Western Edifice, built in 1826, were constructed under 
his direct supervision. His mental capacities were such 
that he could, with ease, perform various and widely differ- 
ent duties at once. It is said"^f him : " Now in the recita- 
tion room solving a linguistical difficulty, and now in the 
quarry prying up materials for the building he was superin- 
tending ; sitting on the sill of the raised window of his lec- 
ture room, giving instructions to his class in one breath, 
and in the next, orders to his workmen outside. He was 
pre-eminently the man of action, forgetting self, and labor- 
ing incessantly for the great object of his heart's desire. 
For a time he resided a mile out in the country, and yet, 
winter and summer, he walked in, with lantern in hand, if 
too dark to see his way, at half past four o'clock in the morn- 
ing, regularly, to attend chapel service at five." 

Rev. Daniel Hascall was elected Principal and Professor 
of Rhetoric, in Hamilton Literary and Theological Institu- 
tion, in 1820. He served with great usefulness for sixteen 
years, when he resigned. He resigned his pastorate with 
the Baptist Church in Hamilton, in 1828. After resigning 
his Professorship, he removed to Castleton, Vt., where he 
resided some years. In 1847, he was invited to the pasto- 
ral care of the Baptist Church in Lebanon, N. Y., and re- 
turned to Hamilton. His return occurred at the opening of 
the " removal controversy." It was a most providential cir- 
cumstance, for he was the only person after Dr. Kendrick, 
in and about Hamilton, who could properly stand forth as the 
legal representative of this location. Dr. Kendrick was lan- 
guishing on a bed of pain, and died before it was settled, 
and Professor Hascall, " boldly and firmly, though with sin- 
gular mildness and amiabiUty of spirit, took his stand in the 
Courts." Through that tedious controversy, he was pliea 
on all sides by those interested in the removal of the insti- 
tution to Rochester, by the most pressing appeals to aban- 



firic-p-AViiO nysAK/ziiL sasxa/N-^j- 



R!^T[|=a^i^DElL, [}^Ef^D)[ffl[lC]^pOalD) 



First Fresibent of Hamiltokt rjT..AND Tmio.lNST. 



HAMILTON. 



467 



don his position. Every inducement was held out by those 
lie personally respected and loved. 

In Dr. Eaton's Historical Discourse, we have a picture of 
the unassuming man, as he received the pleas and argu- 
ments held forth, and his sublime resistance. " He re- 
mained silent, seated at a table, with his eyes cast down, 
under these appeals. It was beheved that a decided im- 
pression had been made, and that he had yielded. A pause 
ensued. He raised his right arm and brought down his 
clenched fist with startling energy upon the table, and 
slowly, with unfaltering voice and solemn emphasis, uttered 
these words : ' It shall not be moved.' The utterance 
was the voice of God against the removal enterprise. It 
sealed its fate." Dr. Eaton further relates : " Efforts were 
indeed continued. The case was carried into the Courts, 
(Daniel Hascall the leading plaintiff,) and argued pro and 
con by the ablest counsel in the State. The legal objec- 
tions were sustained, and Madison University fixed irrevo- 
cably in its present location." 

After litigation had ceased, quiet restored, and the hope 
of his heart, the old Institution, again rising in renewed 
prosperity, his grasp on life relaxed and his freed spirit 
passed to its rest. 

Socially, Rev. Daniel Hascall was deeply beloved. His 
heart was ever overflowing with kindness ; his mild, clear 
eyes expressed it, his benign countenance told how deeply 
his spirit was imbued with Christ-like love. Especially in 
the home circle, where his amiable disposition was daily 
seen, he was truly and warmly appreciated, and in the hearts 
of his loved ones his memory remains precious. He died 
June 28, 1852, aged 70 years. 

REV. NATHANIEL KENDRICK, D.D. 

Nathaniel Kendrick was born in Hanover, Grafton 
County, N. H., April 22, 1777. His early years were spent 
in learning to labor, which established habits favorable to 
vigorous health of body and mind. He received such edu- 



468 MADISON COUNTY. 

cation as the district school afforded, and amid the scenes 
of nature in his daily toil, he stored his mind with lore not 
found in schools, and laid the granite foundations of a great 
character in physical development, mental and moral 
strength, and acquired remarkable habits of industry, per- 
severance and fortitude. 

After a remarkably decided conversion in his twentieth 
year, he began to ponder the momentous question of his 
life work, and in his twenty-fourth year resolved on enter- 
ing the ministry. He commenced his ministerial education 
immediately, studying with private tutors, as was the cus- 
tom at that period. Under several eminent divines, he 
passed from one grade of studies to another, the course be- 
ing similar to that of schools. He commenced his minis- 
terial labors in 1804, was ordained in 1805, and for a 
number of years pursued his pastoral labors in Massachu- 
setts and Vermont. In 1817, he removed to Eaton, and 
from that time, for a series of years, was connected in his 
pastoral labors with the Eaton and Morrisville churches. 
He subsequently removed to Hamilton, where he spent the 
remainder of his years. 

In 1817, he became, with Rev. Daniel Hascall and other 
kindred spirits, one of the founders of the Baptist Education 
Society of the State of New York, which planted Madison 
University in Hamilton. 

Dr. Kendrick's life, from 181 7 to his death, was so closely 
connected with the institution at Hamilton, that the reader 
of the history of one, reads of the other. He devoted him- 
self to it with all his might, mind and strength. His 
eloquent tongue and pen, were, during all these years, in 
constant use for the institution. " He was the living bond 
between the churches and the ' School of the Prophets.' " 
To Kendrick is due, (it is accorded,) more than any other, 
the massive structure of the school, in its peculiar form, as 
originally shaped and constructed. His mind was powerful, 
kis energy mighty, but always subservient to a cool, clear 



HAMILTON. 469 

judgment. He stamped his personality, which was so per- 
meated with the Divine personaHty, upon all individuals 
with whom he associated, and it marked all enterprises in 
which he engaged. He was formed, physically and morally, 
on a large and generous scale. In person, he was tall — six 
feet four inches — and commanding ; his face and form alike 
fitted to inspire respect and veneration. His forehead was 
so high as to be a deformity, had not his frame been in due 
proportion. His intellectual powers were of the noblest 
order. His mild, deep blue eye spoke at once of the benev- 
olence of his heart, and the depth and acuteness of his in- 
tellect. 

Dr. Kendrick was methodically accurate and punctual in 
business, attending to minute details with as much care as 
if no weightier matters filled his mind. In his business 
transactions, he was upright, pure-hearted, straightforward, 
unselfish. It was said of him, " there was no guile on his 
lips — no sort of trickery in his management." His trust in 
God was wonderful. How often, answers to prayer — some 
direct interposition, some aid from an unexpected quarter — 
caused him to give vent to his thanksgiving in those favor- 
ite-passages of Holy Writ: "Surely the Lord's arm is not 
shortened that He cannot save, nor His ear heavy that it 
cannot hear." He can " cause streams to break out in the 
desert." " The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof 
we are glad." At the approach of the great crisis, the " re- 
moval question," although languishing with sickness, Dr. 
Kendrick's anxiety and labors were intense. At a most 
critical period in the affairs of the institution, in writing to 
a friend, he expresses his fears, and thus submits it to the 
care of Providence : " God will overrule and make all things 
subservient to his glory." 

His regard for the students in the institution was like the 
affection of a father for his children. Says his biographer : — 
" It often fell to his lot to give the parting address to stu- 
dents that had completed their course. * * * Many of those 



470 MADISON COUNTY. 

were touching in the fatherly regard which they evinced 
for the candidate for the sacred office, bidding adieu to the 
' school of the prophets,' (as he always called the beloved 
institution,) only to assume the responsibilities of teachers 
in the church of Jesus. Many a reader will revive the tall 
form in the chapel of the Seminary, appealing in pathetic 
strains to a band of youthful servants, and saying to them, 
as a father would to his children, dear as the apple of his 
eye, ' go forth, with the benedictions of heaven upon you.' " 

A heart of great generosity filled his breast, which exhib- 
ited only kindness toward those who differed from his views. 
He was eminently a peacemaker, instead of a partizan ; 
hence his great calmness and power in times of agitation. 
In his domestic life he was truly appreciated, for the tender- 
ness of his domestic affections was in proportion to the 
strength of his intellect. In his family he was free, affec- 
tionate, and playful ; he loved home and was passionately 
fond of children. The inmates of his home were many, but 
all knew the generosity of his heart and his liberal hospi- 
tality. He was blessed with three children by his 
first marriage. The eldest son, Silas N. Kendrick, be- 
came an eminent manufacturer, and proprietor of the " De- 
troit Locomotive Iron Works." He was a wise and good 
man, a true christian gentleman. He died in 1846. 

By his second marriage there were three children, two 
sons born in Eaton and one daughter born in tiamilton. 
Dr. Kendrick's second wife died in 1824. He again mar- 
ried, — Mrs. Mary Hascall of Essex County — in 1828. She 
survived him some years. 

Dr. Nathaniel Kendrick was lecturer on Theology in the 
Hamilton Theological Institute in 1820. Was elected 
Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology and Moral 
Philosophy in 1821, In 1823, received the degree of D. D. 
from Brown University. In 1836, was chosen first Presi- 
dent of Hamilton Institute and continued its President un- 
til his death. 



HAMILTON. 471 

In 1844, he was injured from a fall which resulted in a 
long and painful illness, lasting until life wore out. During 
this long illness, painful in the extreme, he continued to la- 
bor in correspondence tor the institution, in counsels and 
exhortations to the students, and in planning for the pros- 
perity of the cause. His naturally powerful constitution 
was long in wearing out, and his great mind continued its 
native vigor and composure to the last. After all that hu- 
man care and skill could devise, he passed to his rest Sep- 
tember II, 1848, aged seventy-one years. 

EARLVILLE. 

This village is most beautifully situated in the valley of 
the Che lango River, two branches of which wind on either 
side of the village and form a junction a short distance to 
the south. Four towns and two counties join here, Hamil- 
ton, Lebanon, Sherburne and Smyrna, (the two latter of 
Chenango County,) corner in Earlville ; Main street divid- 
ing the two towns of each county, being the county line, 
and the Chenango River dividing Lebanon from Hamilton, 
and Smyrna from Sherburne. The centering point of these 
four towns is the center of the highway near the grist mill, 
Hamilton has in this village about thirty-five houses, one 
dry goods store, one variety store, one grocery store, one 
drug store, one hardware store, one millinery store, one 
jeweler, one blacksmithery, one hotel, one merchant tailor's 
shop, one harness shop, the M. E. Church, the Union 
School with two departments, and the grist mill on the line 
adjoining Lebanon. Sherburne has in this village about 
thirty-three houses, the storage buildings of the Chenango 
Canal, one blacksmithery, two wagon shops, and other sliops, 
one hotel, one warehouse, forwarding and commission 
business in connection. In 1869, the population was 405 
inhabitants;* 231 in the towns of Hamilton and Lebanon, 
and 174 in the towns of Sherburne and Smyrna. There is 
a beautiful incorporated cemetery north of the M. E. Church. 

* It has since increased to 500, « 



472 MADISON COUNTY. 

The Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley Railroad 
runs on the east, five-eighths of a mile from the center of the 
village ; on the west, just by the limits of the village, runs 
the Midland Railroad ; both have convenient depots, and are 
accessible by hacks which run at all train hours. The Sy- 
racuse & Chenango Valley Railroad has its terminus at this 
point. These three important thoroughfares, converging 
here, make this valley in every sense of the word a desirable 
location for business men. The charming situation, the fa- 
cilities for business, hold out special inducements for the 
building up of a large village, and there is room upon the 
spread out plain for a city. 

The early settlers found this to be a desirable place to 
pitch their tents and select their farms, and before 1800, log 
houses were scattered all along each side of the Chenango. 
On the Hamilton side a road was laid out to Hamilton vil- 
lage and farms were quite speedily taken up. Major Bige- 
low Waters and Charles Otis were the first settlers of the 
land where the present village stands. Maj. Waters' large 
farm was located south of the Corners in the town of Sher- 
burne. His descendants are numerous, and are well and 
honorably known in this and the town of Sherburne. The 
Major was a prominent, public spirited citizen. Charles 
Otis' farm comprised the central part of the village site. 
His dwelling was on the northeast corner. That part of his 
farm, now the central point in the village, was cleared by 
Frederic Sexton, an old resident, now deceased. Mr. Otis 
died here after several years' residence, and was succeeded 
by his son, Charles G. Otis. The latter was for a long 
time Justice of the Peace, and was chosen to various public 
stations. He was a useful citizen and highly respected. 
The Forks was the name given this locality, but there 
was no village here for many years ; the settlements, how- 
ever, on each side of the river were becoming quite numer- 
ous. The first religious meetings were held in the houses 
round about, by itinerant Methodist ministers. A class was 



HAMILTON. 473 

formed as early as 1802, which was the nucleus of the first 
Methodist church in Madison County. The Felts, who had 
settled on the west side of the river, were prominent in this 
relicjious movement. 

North of Earlville, about three-fourths of a mile, there 
was some business concentration from 1808 to quite a late 
date. About 181 1, Mr. Jared Pardee, from Herkimer Co., 
came in and built a small tannery. It stood on the site of 
the present tannery. There was a hotel near the tannery 
of which Squire James B. Eldredge was proprietor and 
landlord. The old hotel is still standing converted into a 
farm house, now the home of Mr. Warner Nash. Squire 
Eldredge also kept the first post-office here. There was 
also a large distillery here, kept by Erastus Daniels. 

After the lapse of a few years, Mr. Jared Pardee enlarged 
his tannery, went in partnership with Mr. Crain, and there- 
after for many years, this was known as the tannery of 
Pardee & Crain. At a later date the whole concern was 
built over on an extensive scale. It subsequently passed 
through several hands, and is now owned by Torry & Wil- 
son, who transact a profitable business. They employ 
several workmen and have a capacity for turning off 30,000 
tanned calf-skins per annum. 

Jared Pardee was one of the valued citizens of his day. 
He married and brought his wife here in 18 14, and in their 
household, the toiling itinerant minister found rest, and the 
comforts of a home. 

Mr. Joseph Crandall was one of the earliest settlers of 
Earlville. He was one of the worthy men of the times. 
Himself and wife were also among the company who 
labored to promote religion and good morals. 

Erastus Daniels came in the spring of 1808, from New 
London, Conn., and settled also in the vicinity of the tannery. 
He was a man of public spirit, very active and had a large 
business. On his death, which occured in 18 19, at the age 
of 41 years, the distillery passed into other hands ; but his 



474 MADISON COUNTY. 

wife left with six young children, all daughters, managed to 
keep the farm her husband had purchased, and to this day 
it is in possession of the family. It was somewhat encum- 
oered, but with great prudence and good management, she 
succeeded in liquidating all claims, reared her family and 
secured a competence. Mrs. Daniels now resides in Earl- 
ville. She still enjoys her usual health although she was 
ninety-two years old last February. 

There was nothing more than a hamlet called " The 
Forks," with a post office, tavern, grist mill and saw mill, 
where Earlville is, till about 1833, when the Chenango 
Canal was being built. The post office was first kept by 
Dr. Stacy, in a little building which stood on Hamilton 
street. The Dr. was a warm friend of Jonas Earl, Canal 
Commissioner, and succeeded in getting the place named 
in honor of him. About that period Orange H. Wait built 
the hotel, now the Felt House. In 1833, the ^/^r/ hotel on 
the south-west corner, was built over by Gardner Waters. 
Orange Wait engaged in the mercantile business, which he 
continued successfully for ten or twelve years. He built 
the dwelling next north of the " Brick Block." It was then 
the finest house of the village. Other stores besides that 
of Mr. Wait sprung up in the village, but none of them 
continued in business long. The Brick Block was built by 
William Felt, about twelve years ago (i860). The four 
stores of the village are all in the this block. 

CHURCHES. 

The First Baptist Chiuxh of Hamilton, was organized 
Nov. 17, 1796, with seven members. The church was sup- 
plied by Elder Root, Elder Joel Butler and Elder Salmon 
Moreton, for the first few years. The meeting house was 
erected in the village in 18 10, and stood at the north end 
of the Park. It was burned December 31, 18 19. A new 
house of worship was immediately erected, which was dedi- 
cated, November 12, 1820. The present church was built 
in 1843. The first settled pastor of this society was Elder 



HAMILTON. 475 

Ashbel Hosmer. The Second Baptist Church, located at 
Thompson's Mills was formed from this in 1819. 

The Congregational Church of Hamilton Village, was or- 
ganized in February, 1828, at the house of John Foote, 
with eight members. Rev. Pindar Field was first pastor. 
Meetings were first held in the brick Academy, but the 
house of worship was erected the same year. In 185 i, the 
house was destroyed by fire. It was immediately rebuilt. 
It 1 87 1, it was remodeled and repaired at a cost of about 
$4,000. 

St. Thomas Church, {Episcopal) of Hamilton, was organ- 
ized, September 21, 1835. Rev. L. A. Barrows was first 
clergyman. In 1846, the church edifice was erected. It 
was of the early English Gothic style. It was consecrated 

June 8, 1847. 

The Methodist Church of Earlville, was organized in 1802, 
at the house of Joseph Crandall. First meeting house was 
built in 1 8 14. A new house was built in 1838. In 1871, 
the house was built anew on the old frame at a cost of about 
$5,000. Rev. Charles Giles was first pastor. 

The First Congregational Church of Hamilton, was organ- 
ized in 1798, by Rev. Mr. Badger of Blandford, Massachu- 
setts. It was located at Hamilton Center, where the meet- 
ing house was erected in 1800. Jonathan Stevens, Richard 
Butler, John Pomeroy, Phineas Alvord, Annie Morgan, 
Mary Schoil, Lucy Stevens and Rebecca West, constituted 
the first members. First pastor, Rev. Mr. Moulton. In 
1840, the meeting house was removed to Poolville. 

The Universalist Church of Hamilton, was formed by Rev. 
Nathaniel Stacy, at the house of David Dunbar in Hub- 
bardsville, in 1808. It was then called the "Universal 
Friendly Society." Rev. Mr. Stacy labored for this society 
sixteen years, preaching in school houses, barns and pri- 
vate dwellings. In 1833 and '34, the Universalist meeting 
house was built at the Center. In 1866, the articles of 
faith were revised, and a charter obtained. 



476 MADISON COUNTY. 

There is a Methodist Episcopal Church in Hamilton vil- 
lage, which was formed as a society in 1819. We are una- 
ble to present the facts in its history, from want of the nec- 
essary material* We have also failed in obtaining a histor- 
ical sketch of the M. E. Church at Poolville, and at East 
Hamilton. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Hmnilton Recorder ^^2^% started in 18 17, by John G. 
Stower and P. B. Havens. In 1819, it passed into the hands 
of Stower & Williams, and afterwards into those of John P. 
VanSice. In 1829, it was removed to Morrisville and united 
with The Gbsetver. 

The Madison Parmer vidcs> published at Hamilton in 1828, 
by Nathaniel King. 

The Civilian was started July 27, 1830, by Laurens 
Dewey. In February, 1831, it passed into the hands of 
Lewison Fairchild, and in November, 1831, it was discon- 
tinued. 

The Hamilton Courier was commenced by G. R. Waldron 
in February, 1834, and in the following year it appeared as 

The Hamilton Courier and Madison County Advertiser. 
It was continued until 1838. 

The Hamilton Palladium \\?iS started in 1838, by John 
Atwood, and continued six years — a part of the time by J. & 
D. Atwood. 

The Hamilton Eagle was published in 1836, by G. R. 
Waldron. 

The Literary Visitor was published at Hamilton about 
three months, in 1842, by Dennis Redman. 

The Democratic Reflector was started at Hamilton by G. 
R. Waldron, in 1842, and was published by Waldron & 
Baker from 1843 to 1854, and two years by Waldron alone, 
when it was united with the Madison County yournal, and 
appeared as 

The Democratic Republican. It was published by Wal- 

* See page 451. 



HAMILTON, 



477 



dron & James until 1861 ; by J. Hunt Smith, sixteen months, 
when it passed into the hands of E. D. Van Slyck, by whom 
it is now published. 

The Madison County Joiumal was commer.ced Septem- 
ber, 1849, by E. F. & C. B. Gould. W. W. Chubbuck, F. 
B. Fisher and T. L. James were afterwards interested in its 
publication ; and in 1856 it was united with the Democratic 
Reflector. 

The Mill Boy was published during the campaign of 1844, 
at the Palladium office, and 

The Polker at the Reflector office. 

The Land Mark was published as a campaign paper in 
1850. 

The Neiv York State Radii was removed from Fort Plain, 
Montgomery County, in 1854, by L. S. Backus, and con- 
tinued about eighteen months, when it was returned to Fort 
Plain. 

The Democratic Union was commenced at Hamilton, in 
1856, by Levi S. Backus ; and in 1857, it passed into the 
hands of W. H. Baker, when he removed it to Oneida in 
1863, where he contiues to publish it. 

The Independent Voluntcef was started at Morrisville and 
Hamilron, July 28, 1864, by G. R. Waldron and J. M. Chase ; 
in 1865, it was published by G. R. Waldron & Son ; Sep- 
tember 25, 1866, it was changed to 

Waldron s Democratic Volunteer, and was first published 
at Hamilton by Waldron & Son, and is now issued by 
Waldron & Slauson. 



4/8 MADISON COUNTY. 



CHAPTER X, 



LENOX. 



Boundaries. — Climate. — Geography. — Ancient Occupation of 
the Town by Indians. — Jesuit Missions of the Seventeenth 
Century. — English Travelers. — Ancient Forts. — Rev. Samuel 
Kirkland at Oneida Castle. — Traversing Armies. —Travelers' 
Statements. — First White Settiers. — The Klocks. — Myndert 
Wemple. — Angel DeFerriere. — Wampsville. — Quality Hill. — 
Biographical. — Palmer Hill. — Oneida Castle and Skenan- 
doah's Home. — Leiiox Furnace. — Caiiastota Village with 
Biographical Sketches.— Oneida Village. — Oneida Commu- 
nity. — Churches. — Newspapers. 

The town of Lenox is bounded north by the Oneida 
Lake and Oneida County, east by Oneida Creek, (the natu- 
ral division between this town and Oneida County,) south 
by Stockbridge and Smithfield, and west by Sullivan. It 
is one of the two northern towns of Madison County. Ly- 
ing north of the water shed, its streams all have a northerly 
course and discharge their waters into Oneida Lake. 
Oneida Creek, which rises far southward in Madison 
Countv, drains the eastern part of Lenox, and, at this point, 
is a noble stream, affording several mill sites. Before the 
construction of dams, salmon ran up this stream as far as 
Stockbridge, affording fine fishing. The Cowasselon 
Creek has its numerous tributaries all along the ridge, in 
the towns of Fenner and Smithfield, which pour down the 
hill sides to the level country below, where the main body of 
the stream, moving easterly, receives them all, then curves 
northerly and westerly and receives the Canastota ; then 
trails slowly through the heavy swamp into the town of 



LENOX. 479 

Sullivan to unite with the Canaseraga. The Canastota, 
having its source in Fenner, rushes down the hills at a rapid 
rate, and finally having reached the level country and wa- 
tered the village of Canastota, it unites with the Cowas- 
selon. 

The great swamp extends from Sullivan far into this 
town, but at the northward the lands borderirg the lake are 
more arable. The beach on the south shore of Oneida 
Lake is beautiful, and in some places well adapted to the 
sports of fishing. From the earliest days the lake abound- 
ed in the best qualities of the finny tribes. Spafford's Ga- 
zetteer of 1812, says : " Among the most admired fish are 
salmon, pike, Oswego and white bass, trout, catfish, with a 
great variety of others, and eels of a superior quality and in 
vast abundance." 

The face of the whole town, which may be seen from the 
southern high ridges, is beautiful. To the tourist coming 
from the south and reaching the summit, where the macad- 
amized road is ready to take its downward curve around to 
the rocky base of the hill, where a branch of the Cowasse- 
lon splashes from one rocky shelf to another into the gorge 
below ; here, upon the highest point, it requires but a slight 
stretch of the imagination to seem to be on some romantic 
border ground of two widely different countries, especially 
if it be at that transition period in nature, the spring time, 
when the buds are bursting and the grass freshening ; when 
the warmer soils and sunnier spots first show their robes of 
living green ; for the climate north of the ridge materially 
difftTs from that south, and brings forth vegetation two 
weeks earlier. From this summit the observer's vision ex- 
tends many miles southward over successive hills rising 
and falling, between whose convolutions flow many streams. 
Brown and bare are the still wintry looking forests, though 
the faintest hue of swelling buds may just relieve the hang- 
ing duskiness about the extreme crown of the maple woods ; 
but let him turn to the northward and his eye sweeps a vast 



480 MADISON COUNTY. 

breadth of country, seeming to be a wide prairie, upon which 
groves of timber have been planted ; he sees various north- 
ward bound creeks and rivulets, which cease suddenly their 
rushing and roaring at the base of the hills, and wind leis- 
urely along the level country below him ; and in this 
charmed climate lies the village of Canastota, flourishing her 
fruit and ornamental trees, clothed in their new outfit of 
green foliage. To the southward he has felt the chill of 
winter fleeing from the breezy hill tops ; to the northward 
he breathes the balmy air of spring which has crept up the 
valley of the Mohawk and finds no counter-current impedi- 
ment to its progress along the low, sandy country, south of 
Lake Oneida. 

The soil of Lenox is rich and productive, being in the 
north a gravelly alluvium and in the south more clayey. It 
is generally well adapted to the cultivation of wheat. Iron 
ore is perceptible in the soil in many places, and limestone 
abounds. The geology of this town is quite like that of 
Sullivan — its various strata of rock and mineral deposits be- 
ing but a continuation of the same. Beds of gypsum and 
iron ore are seen in various places. On the Seneca Turn- 
pike, near the crossing of the Cowasselon, are sulphur 
springs of considerable strength. The development of 
salt springs, as found at Canastota, exceed any in the coun- 
try, except those at Syracuse. 

Lenox was formed from Sullivan, ^larch 3, 1809, and is 
one of the largest towns in Madison County. At the date 
of its formation it embraced an area of 54,500 acres of land. 
A portion of its territory was taken oft' for Stockbridge in 
1836, leaving the present area 49,568 acres. 

The town of Lenox, the center of the old Oneida Reser- 
vation, was the established home of the Oneida Indians 
for centuries. Although they had been planted at Stock- 
bridge, yet we have evidences that their chief village was 
at Oneida Castle as far ba/:k as 1650. Madison County 
was, properly, the home of the Oneidas ; they owned all its 



LENOX. ^8l 

broad domain, and within its borders were situated nearly 
all their villages. The Oneidas claimed but a comparatively 
small part of Oneida County, and yielded their jurisdiction 
of that the earliest ; so we claim the Oneidas. Since this 
tribe has had no historian, it becomes our task in this work 
to gather and report such fragmentary records as have been 
penned by priests, travelers, and other itinerants, and 
handed down among the musty documents of ages past. 
From these we learn, that in 1667, a Jesuit Mission was 
established at Oneida Castle by Father Jacques Bruyas. 
The mission was named " St. Francis Xavier." Father 
Bruyas did much towards attaching the Indians to the 
French ; in his reports he names thirty Indian as having 
been baptized by him. In 1677, an English traveler, 
Wentworth Greenhalgh, in the interest of the English 
Government, traveled through the Indian country as far as 
the Senecas. He speaks of the Oneidas as having but 
one town, about 130 miles west of the Mohawks, and about 
twenty miles from the head of the Oneida river, which 
runs into Lake Tshiroque (Lake Oneida). He says : " The 
town is newly settled, double stockadoed, but little cleared 
ground, so they are forced to send to the Onondagoes to buy 
corn. The town consists of about 100 houses. They are 
said to have about 200 fighting men. Their corn grows 
round about the town." 

Father Pierre Millet was stationed at Oneida, in 1684, by 
De La Barre, Governor General of Canada, who remained 
there till about 1696, during which time he exerted his in- 
fluence to attach the Iroquois to the French. Although in 
some degree successful, yet he could not win them from 
their allegiance to the English and Dutch. During Father 
Millet's residence here, this region was invaded by French 
armies to coerce the natives, and bring them under subju- 
gation, and marks of their devastating course existed a long 
time after. In the meantime, the authorities at Albany 
and New York maintained their friendship by keeping up 

E2 



482 MADISON COUNTY. 

constant communication by runners on the " errant path," 
whose course through this region often awoke lively enthu- 
siasm for their English and Dutch friends, who always sent 
them useful presents in times of need. 

When the Jesuits were recalled to Canada, tliey left 
many evidences of their former presence among the Onei- 
das, which, a few years since, were scarcely obliterated. 

Schoolcraft* discovered some remains of the French 
occupation in this town, which he saw when in Lenox, and 
from which he drew a diagram. The drawing represents 
the lines of a picketed work covering two sides of a fort, 
beyond which is an extensive plain once cultivated. He 
thus describes it : — 

It is now [1846,] covered with wild grass and shrubbery. 
The northern edge of the plain is traversed by a stream which 
has worn its bed down to the unconsolidated strata, so as to 
create a deep gorge. This stream is joined from the west by a 
small run having its origin in a spring near by. Its channel at 
the junction is as deep below the level of the plain as the 
other. [Some few miles below on the stream is the site of an 
iron cupola or blast furnace, where the red or lendcular oxyd is 
reduced.] The point of junction itself forms a natural horn 
work, which covered access to the water. The angle of the 
plam thus marked constituted the point defended. The excava- 
tions may have once been square. They are now indentations 
disclosing carbonaceous matter, as if from the decay of wood ; 
no wood or coal, however, existed ; their use in this position is 
not apparently connected with the designated lines of palisades, 
unless it be supposed that they were of an older period than the 
latter, and designate pits, such as the aborigines used in defence. 
This idea is favored by the ground being a litde raised at this 
point, and so formed that it would have admitted the ancient 
circular Indian palisade. If such were the case, however, it 
seems evident that the French had selected the spot at an early 
period, when, as it is known, they attempted to obtain a footing 
in the country of the Oneidas. The distance is less than ten 
miles north-west of the Oneida Castle. It probably covered 
a mission. The site which my informant, living near, called the 
old French Field, may be supposed to have been cultivated by 
servants, or traders connected with it. The oak and maple trees 
which once covered it as denoted by the existing forest, are such 
in size and number as to have required expert axmen to fell. 

With the exception of two points in the Oneida Creek valley. 



LENOX. 483 

where there are still vestiges of French occupation, supported 
by tradition, this work is the most easterly of those known, 
which remain to test the adventurous spirit, zeal and persever- 
ance, which marked the attempt of the French Crown to plant 
the flag and the cross in Western New York." 

After the contest between the French and English was 
ended, the Iroquois unmolested, pursued their usual customs, 
and for several decades the present county of Madison saw- 
but little of the white man, save as the trader came up to 
purchase the choice furs of the bear, beaver, mink and 
otter, then the only exchange products of the country, for 
which he would disburse in payment, not only the gay city 
notions the Indians so much admired, but many a flagon of 
baneful fire water. Oneida Castle, Onondaga and other 
points farther west, were regular trading posts, and it was 
no uncommon scene to see companies of Indians, laden 
with furs, coming in on the various trails to these points, at 
periods when traders were to arrive Many fleets of fur-, 
laden canoes came over lake Oneida on the same errand. 
Finally, so lucrative grew the fur trade, it became necessary 
to build a fort at the carrying place, between the Mohawk 
River and Wood Creek, Oneida Co., and also to perfect the 
water communication between here and Albany, in order to 
facilitate and systematize the traffic, and to improve the 
facilities for a quick and easy transportation to Albany. 

In July, 1766, Rev. Samuel Kirkland took up his resi- 
dence at Ka-non-wal-lo-hu-le, the Indian name for Oneida 
Castle. He had intended to- settle with the Senecas, but 
having ill health, had returned and decided to locate here. 
In the autumn of this year, he built himself a house, cutting 
and hewing the timber and digging the cellar with his own 
hands. He cultivated a garden on the ground occupied, in 
1850, for the same purpose, by Hon. Timothy Jenkins.* 
In 1769, Mr. Kirkland married and brought his wife here, 
when he found it necessary to enlarge his house from its 
original dimensions often feet square, to sixteen feet square. 

*Jones' Annals of Oneida County. 



484 



MADISON COUNTY, 



His wife remained with the family of Gen. Herkimer until 
he could accomplish the enlargement. This being com- 
pleted, he removed her to the improved residence, in the 
latter part of December. Mrs. Kirkland's presence was 
soon felt in introducing order, neatness, industry, purity and 
devotion among the Oneida women ; and in a few years the 
influence of Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland produced a most saluta- 
ry effect upon the natives, so that at the death of Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, and the breaking out of the Revolution, their 
strong attachment to the principles which had been incul- 
cated, won them from the interests of the Johnson family, 
and attached them to the American cause. They were in- 
duced by Mr. Kirkland to remain neutral ; but Skenandoah, 
the famous Oneida Chief, residing here, influenced many of 
them to take up arms in the defense of the Americans. On 
the breaking out of actual hostilities, Mrs. Kirkland re- 
turned to Massachusetts, and remained there till after the 
peace of 1783, Mr. Kirkland, meantime, remaining in the 
discharge of his duties, sometimes residing at Whiteslown 
and sometimes at Oneida Castle, 

Because the Oneidas held a neutral position, these vil- 
lages were unmolested during the war, while others around 
them were utterly destroyed by one or the other of the con- 
tending forces. Although large bodies of soldiery passed 
and repassed over their trails and through their villages, 
their quiet remained undisturbed. In the spring of 1779, 
Col. Van Shaick with his detachment of six companies of 
New York troops, one of Pennsylvania, one of Massachu- 
setts and one of rifles, amounting in all to 504 men, rank 
and file, marched from Fort Schuyler to Onondaga, through 
Oneida village ; — and again in September of that year. Col. 
Gansevoort, with one hundred men, made his rapid march 
through the Genesee Indian country to Fort Schuyler, pass- 
ing through here. He had been instructed by Gen. Sulli- 
van as follows : " Take particular care that your men do not 
offer the inhabitants the least insult ; and, if by any accident 



LENOX. 485 

damage should be done, you are to make reparation, for 
which I shall stand accountable." Col. Gansevoort reported 
afterwards, and of his passing through Oneida Castle, says : 
"Every mark of hospitality and friendship was shown our 
party. I had the pleasure to find that not the. least dam- 
age nor insult was offered any of the inhabitants." The 
famous Vrooman adventurers and their savage pursuers, 
Sir John Johnson and his barbarians, made their swift jour- 
neys over the well preserved Oneida path through Lenox. 

Although neutral as a tribe during the war, the Oneidas 
had some famous warriors who did good service in the cause 
of the colonies. Chief of them all, was the sagacious and 
noble Skenandoah, who, when peril threatened to overwhelm 
the colonists, left the peaceful arts of agriculture which he 
had acquired with civilization, and helped to fight the bat- 
tles of the Americans. The Castle was also the home of 
Thomas Spencer, an Indian interpreter, who rendered most 
valuable service to the cause of his country, and gave to it 
liis life at the battle of Oriskany, in 1777. 

After the war, the peaceful arts flourished, and the Onei- 
das began to cultivate the rich lands of this town, which 
they chose to reserve for their own use. They made pres- 
ents of some fine tracts to their prized friends ; one to Judge 
James Dean of Westmoreland, and a rich tract to Rev. Sam- 
uel Kirkland. They made cessions of land to the State, 
time after time, from other sections of their territory, but 
preserved Lenox intact. 

The Great Trail was an excellent thoroughfare for emi- 
grants who had heard of the wonderful Genesee country. 
In 1790, James Wadsworth opened the first wagon road 
along this route as he passed westward ; but, up to the pe- 
riod of which we have been speaking, not one emigrant had 
come to settle in northern Madison County. It was in 
1791, that the first settlers of Sullivan, the Germans, passed 
here. The locating of these Germans upon a portion of the 
chosen reservation of the Oneidas, did not please the lat- 



486 MADISON COUNTY. 

ter ; the spirit shown by the Indians on this occasion, how- 
ever, deterred others from encroaching ; and not until pur- 
chases were made by the State, was the town of Lenox set- 
tled by white people. 

From published statements made by travelers at the 
time, we learn something ot Central New York at an early 
day. Capt. Williamson, agent of the Pultney estate, in one 
of his letters, writes of a gentleman (name not mentioned,) 
moving to Genesee in the month of February, 1792, who 
says : " At Whitestown I was obliged to change my sled ; 
the Albany driver would proceed no further, as he found 
that for the next 150 miles we were not only obliged to 
take provisions for ourselves and horse, but also blankets as 
a substitute for beds. After leaving Whitestown, we found 
only a few huts scattered along the path, at a distance of from 
ten to twenty miles apart, and they afforded nothing but the 
convenience of fire and a kind of shelter from the snow." 
They reached Seneca Lake on the evening of the third 
day, greatly fatigued with their tedious journey. Capt. 
Williamson also alludes to his own journey to the same 
place that year, as follows : — " After passing Clinton, there 
are no inhabitants on the road until you reach Oneida, an 
Indian town, the first of the Six Nations ; it contains about 
550 inhabitants ; here I slept, and found the natives very 
friendly. The next day I went on to Onondaga, leaving 
the Oneida Lake on the right and the Onondaga on the 
left, each a few miles distant." 

As before stated, the Germans, or more correctly, the 
Dutch, from the Mohawk valley, had passed through here 
and discovered the land to be a goodly heritage to whom- 
soever should possess it. They had decided to remain in 
Sullivan, with the consent of the Oneidas, upon the land 
of their choice ; they were not at all disheartened by the 
reverses and poverty which seemed to constantly attend 
their first efforts at settlement, nor did their ill fortune de- 
ter others from following in their footsteps. 



LENOX. 487 

The year 1792, brought the first white settlers of the 
town of Lenox. Conrad Klock and his sons, Joseph, John 
and Conrad, from the Mohawk country, came to the vicin- 
ity of Clockville, and there located their homes. It is from 
this family that the village was subsequently named. Their 
settlement was increased by additions from the lower Mo- 
hawk ; the Betsingers, the Moots, Jacob Forbes* and 
Nicholas Forbes. They opened a road through to Cana- 
seraga, which communicated with Oneida Castle, and along 
this road, during the next few years, many families settled. 
Capt. Jacob Seeber and others, of the Sullivan pioneers, re- 
moved to this locality. Southeast of Clockville, about two 
miles, was quite a compact settlement of Dutch, am ing 
whom were the Snyders, Bruyeas, Kilts and Tuttles. A 
half mile west of Clockville, at the four corners, one of the 
settlers named Fort, kept a tavern for many years. 

At this day (1871,) many of the old farms are in posses- 
sion of members of the above named families ; D. B. Moot 
is in possession of the old Forbes place ; N. M. Moot owns 
the homestead of his father ; Adam Klock has also his fath- 
er's homestead ; Abram Snyder is the owner of the farm- 
his father, Adam R. Snyder, took up. 

On the opening of the Seneca tuinpike, Myridert Wem- 
ple, a bla:ksmith, who had been sent among the Indians by 
Gen. Washington, opened a tavern at the place which was 
afterwards named from him, Wampsville. This tavern, being 
the only one there for many years, was widely known to 
the traveling and emigrating public. (This old tavern 
building is still standing as a farm I:ouse. In 1870, the 
farm upon which it stands was sold by Mr. Benjamin 
Dyer to Mr, Miner, of the Eagle Hotel, Oneida.) Wemple 
was a favorite with the Indians ; they gave him a tract of 
land in Westmoreland, one mile squar., which wns known 
as "Wemple's Patent." 

* Isaac Forbes, son of Jacob Forbes, was in times past a Magistrate and Deputy 
Slueritf. 



488 MADISON COUNTY. 

Before 1800, Angel De Ferriere, a Frenchman, who had 
married a daughter of Louis Dennie, a leading family among 
the Oneidas, was prevailed upon by his wife's relatives to 
take up his abode in their territory, and as an inducement, 
the wife's brother, Jonathan Dennie, made her a present of 
a very nice farm near Wampsville. After this, Mr. De 
Ferriere made large additions to this estate by purchases, 
receiving from the Indians the benefit of their title, and ob- 
taining, also, a patent from the State. Ha so increased his 
possessions, that at one time he owned 3,000 acres of the 
best grade of land in Lenox. He built a tavern, a saw mill 
and grist mill, a distillery and brewery ; and with rare dis- 
crimhiation, selected worthy and industrious young men, 
and set them up in business in the little village he had 
founded. The tavern, a fine building for its day, being a 
large two-story house, was kept by Dr. Stockton ; and from 
such an authority as DeWitt Clinton, who put up here on a 
journey westward, we learn that it was the best tavern on 
the road. After Dr. Stockton's term of renting had expired, 
a Mr. Alcott took the house. The grist mill, which stood 
nearly on the site of Duncan McDougall's flouring mill, was 
run by Mr. McCollum, a Scotchman. Mr. DeFerriere em- 
ployed a man to carry on the brewery, set up a blacksmith 
and a shoemaker, and built a small store. Although un- 
used to our customs and unable to speak English when he 
came to America, his good knowledge of human nature, his 
ready tact and common sense, usually rendered him success- 
ful in selecting the right sort of men to assist him in his af- 
fairs ; he also speedily acquired our language, so that he 
soon became able to transact any part of his own business, 
making out his contracts and conveyances in his own hand. 
His land extended nearly to Oneida village ; he subse- 
quently sold much of it to white settlers, many of whom, or 
their successors, to-day possess old titles and papers in the 
orthography and chirography of Angel DeFerriere. His 
own house, long since removed, stood near the tavern and 



LENOX. 489 

opposite the cottage built in later years, vvhich is now stand- 
ing on the homestead farm. (Note m.) 

The Cowassalon* Creek courses through here ; and north 
of DeFerriere's and the adjacent village of Wampsville, was 
the Indian village. A great deal of business was transacted 
at Wampsville at an early day. The Seneca Turnpike was 
a great road ; six and eight horse teams hauling covered 
emigrant wagons with wide-tired wheels, were constantly 
passing over it. 

Luther Cole was the first mail carrier west of Utica. 
Judge Young, of Whitestown, was the first agent of the 
Seneca Turnpike Company ; he built the De Ferriere 
bridge over the Cowassalonf at Wampsville, which was 
then known as a great bridge. His name and the date of 
its construction was inscribed on the bridge. It was at last 
destroyed by a freshet, when its foundation was washed 
away and its two arches fell by the violence of the flood. 
Judge Young was succeeded by Gardiner Avery as agent 
of the Turnpike Co. ; he continued in ofitice a number of 
years, and was succeeded by Capt. Harvey Cobb, now a 
citizen of Wampsville, who held the agency till the turnpike 
was given up by the Company and became a common pub- 
lic highway. 

On the opening of the Erie Canal, the lands about 
Wampsville and throughout the town along its line, were in 
market and were rapidly sold. A portion of Wampsville 
Flats was purchased by Peter Smith and Elisha Williams, 
(the latter gentleman a noted lawyer, of Hudson, N. Y.,) 
which purchase was known as "the purchase of 181 5." 
These lands were sold out in farms. Southward from Fed- 
eral and Quality Hills, or south side of and adjoining the 
Seneca Turnpike, was "the purchase of 1798," which then 

* Pronounced " kwos-a-lone ;" meaning bushes hanging over the water. It is 
sometimes erroneously spoken, " Squash-a-lone." DeWitt Clinton, hearing the 
latter pronunciation, supposed it to be " Squaw-a.lone," and has so written it. By 
some it is said to mean " Weeping Squaw." 

f At the foot of " Break Neck Hill." 



490 MADISON COUNTY. 

found a ready market, as the turnpike lands became a great 
attraction to emigrants. In Judge Thomas Barlow's enter- 
taining sketches, published in the Canastota Herald in 1868, 
he gives a narrative from Col. Cadwell's experience in the 
early settlement of Quality Hill and its vicinity. To this 
narrative the author is indebted for much of the history of 
this section. We learn from this source that as early as 
1802, there were no houses on the north side of the turn- 
pike from Wampsville to Quality Hill ; all was woodland 
except here and there cleared spots. The road leading 
south by Dr. Hall's was the only road going south from the 
turnpike between the two places. The Colonel says : 
"The first labor I performed when I came here, (1802,) was 
in laying a causeway across the swamp at the bottom of the 
hill on this road." There was, however, a considerable 
population from near Federal Hill, westwardalong the turn- 
pike, of which Quality Hill was the nucleus ; here, individ- 
uals of enterprise, education, and in many instances of 
wealth, settled. The name of "Quality Hill" was given 
by a young lady. Miss Lucinda Harris, daughter of Dr. 
Harris, who lived in a log house on the spot where now 
may be seen the stately mansion of Sylvanus Stroud. Miss 
Harris, it seems, regarded the ladies of the hill as enjoying 
better advantages than those around them, and therefore as 
" putting on a little more style " than they would, had it 
been otherwise ; hence, so far as a name would do it, she 
qualified and dignified the place and people by prefixing the 
title " Quality " to the " Hill," by which not inappropriate 
name the locality was known as early as 1800, and has been 
so known to this day. Miss Harris married Elisha Buttolf 
and resided for a time a half mile west of the Hill. 

An old resident, in a recent communication, remarks o 
this part of Lenox : "The soil being in possession of all its 
strength and fatness, produced most luxuriant crops of all 
the cereals, and where but lately stood a growth of heavy 
timber might be seen the tasseled tops of a rich crop of 



LENOX. 



491 



Indian corn, and a yellow harvest of wheat waving in the 
breeze, side by side. So congenial was the new land to the 
growth oi p?nnpkins, that in the harvest of some years, a man 
might walk over an acre of ground on pumpkins at every 
step ! Hence, the hill near where my father lived was called 
' Pumpkin Hill.' " 

Sylvanus Smalley, afterwards Judge, who was one of the 
first settlers, kept tavern at Quality Hill many years. His 
was also the first tavern of the place ; it was built of logs 
with a frame front. It was long ago removed, and the 
Judge erected a fine two-story house, (now owned by Je- 
rome Hoffman,) in which he lived many years. He died at 
Durhamville. After Judge Smalley, this tavern was kept 
by John P. Webb for a long term of years. 

In 1802, there lived upon the hill, Dr. Asahel Prior, Da- 
vid Barnard, Aaron Francis, Abiel Fuller, David Barnard, 
jr., Dea. Ebenezer Cadwell, Isaac Senate, Samuel Louder, 
Nehemiah Smalley, Mr. Tucker, Selah Hills, Job Lockwood, 
Nash Mitchell, tanner and currier by trade, Dr. Harris and 
Ichabod Buell. 

Passing along east from Quality Hill, there lived east of 
the creek, as it then ran, a Mr. Handy, who was a deerskin 
and leather dresser. There were deer in the forests, and 
many of the inhabitants wore deer skin pants, from material 
prepared by Mr. Handy. There was a brick yard on the flat 
near there, and Jason Powers, who came to Quality Hill in 
1801, worked in the yard and boarded with Mr. Handy, and 
finally married his daughter, Lovina. Near here was also 
a distillery. On the south side of the road toward Federal 
Hill was a tavern kept by Joseph Phelps. On Federal Hill, 
on the south side of the road, Thomas Menzie was located 
and sold goods, trading mostly with the Indians. In 1802, 
there was no other dwelling from this point to Wampsville. 

West from Quality Hill, on the turnpike, in the section 
called " Oak Hill," it was considerably settled by farmers, 
who had made quite spacious clearings around their homes, 



492 MADISON COUNTY. 

and were well started in the world. Squire Ebenezer Calk- 
ins, then a young man, resided in a log house, where he 
afterwards built, and where the Perkins have since lived. 
'Col Zebulon Douglass was keeping tavern on his well 
known farm, west of Col. Calkins' ; Reuben Hale lived on 
the hill nearly west of what is now know as the Culver res- 
idence ; Gen. Ichabod S. Spencer lived on the flat between 
Mr. Hale's and where Col. Stephen Lee afterwards lived ; 
Col. Thomas W. Phelps worked at the harness making busi- 
ness, opposite Col. Lee's ; a Mr. Pettibone kept tavern 
here before 1802 ; this tavern was burned down and never 
rebuilt. 

After 1802, the population of this locality was added to 
by many other substantial citizens, among whom were Har- 
vey G. Morse, Edward Lewis, Thomas W. Phelps, Wm. L 
Hopkins, Joseph Bruce and Squire "Wager. Dr. Thomas 
Spencer was an early resident of Quality Hill, as were also 
his brothers, Joshua A. and Ichabod S. Spencer. 

South and south-west from here on the Clockville and 
Canaseraga road, Walter, Sylvester, Hezekiah and Lines 
Beecher, located at an early date. The first two named, 
were afterwards Judges of the County Court. Dea. John 
Hall, from Massachusetts, settled on Oak Hill in 1806. 
Dea. Nathaniel Hall,* from Connecticut, and Dr. Nathan- 
iel Hall, his son, came in 1807. Their farms were in the 
Beecher neighborhood. 

About 1 8 10, a singular and fatal affair occurred in the 
Beecher and Hall neighborhood. Two young men, named 
John Allen and John Harp, were at work plowing for 
Judge Beecher, and obtained some of the roots of Cicuta, 
supposing it to be " Sweet Sicily," and ate of it. In a 

* Horace H. Hall, of Quality Hill, has in his possession an old relic, descended 
to him from his grandfather, Deacon Nathaniel Hall. It is an ancient powder 
■ horn, quaintly carved, bearing the inscription "Nathaniel Hall 1759." This early 
resident of Lenox, was born in Guilford, Conn., in 1741, and died in Lenox, in 
1818, aged 76 years. He served in the war of the Revolution, having been 
called from peaceful pursuits at several different times in periods of emergency. 



LENOX. 



493 



short time they discovered the horrible mistake they had 
made and attempted to reach some neighbor's house, but 
found themselves unable to go. One of them succeeded 
in making himself heard, and soon the whole neighborhood 
was aroused ; physicians were procured, among whom were 
Drs. Hall and Prior, and every effort possible was made to 
save the victims, which, however, availed nothing, for before 
sunset of the same day they were both dead. The sad affair 
created inteise excitement. The house of Judge Eeecher, 
where the young men were carried, was immediately throno-ed 
with almost the entire population for miles around, and the 
funeral was the largest this part of the country bad yet 
known. 

Among other early settlers ct this part of the town, were 
a Mr. Cotton, Evard Van Epps, Gift Hills, John Hills, 
Martin Vrooman and Benjamin Smith, — the latter kept a tav- 
ern. The first person who engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness at Quality Hill was Capt. William Jennings. He was 
succeeded by Maj. Joseph Bruce, who was a merchant here 
many years. At a very early day, contemporaneous with 
Jei.nings, the firm of Walton, Beebe & Hall kept a store, 
erecting a building for that purpose. The village had at 
one time two taverns, which did ample business. The pros- 
perity of these institutions, may be in good part accounted for 
by the fact that the turnpike was a constantly traveled 
thoroughfare, especially in winter when teaming was a 
great business. As many as forty teams in a line have 
been seen at one sweep of the eye, from the stand point of 
Quality Hill, eastward toward Federal Hill. There were other 
taverns near by, both east and west of the village. Besides 
the business institutions already mentioned, there were at the 
same time on Quality Hill, a post office, several shops and a 
Masonic Lodge, to which a large number ot the leading men 
of the country round about belonged. 

The meetings and trainings of the military organizations 
were the occasions of the great gatherings ot early days in 



494 MADISON COUNTY. 

town and county, the officers of which were the most con- 
spicuous men of the times. During the war of 1812, the 
patriotic citizens of Lenox raised a company of horse 
artillery that volunteered lor the war. The officers were: 
Captain, William Jennings ; First Lieut., Joseph Bruce ;* 
Second Lieut., Argelus Cady ; Cornet, David Beecher ; 
Orderly Sergeant, J. Austin Spencer. It was at this time 
that Capt. Jennings made himself famous for his poetical 
order on Gov. Daniel D. Tompkins, which has been related 
as follows : — The officers had met at the store of Lieut. 
Bruce to prepare a requisition letter to the Governor, for 
two field pieces. While discussing the form in which to 
address so distinguished a nian. Judge Hopkins, at tha't 
time doing duty on the bench, made a bantering wager with 
Capt. Jennings that the ordnance could be procured on an 
order, the form of which should be dictated by him. 
Hopkins walked up to the desk, seized the pen and forth- 
with produced the following : — 

" Great Daniel D., we send to thee 
For two great-guns and trimmings; 

Send them to hand, or you'll be d d, 

By order of 

(]apt. Jennings." 

This of course created a good deal of amusement, and 
though it was not officially sent to the Governor, as the ord- 
nance was obtained through a regular order, the story was 
too good to be kept ; the Governor, who was fond of a good 
joke, in some way learned of the incident, and was also 
made aware that his friend, the Judge, had a hand in it. 
Some of the officers in this Company were rewarded for 
gallant services in the war, by promotion, and they, 
with others, sent to Albany by Judge Hopkins for their 
commissions. On calling for them at the proper office, the 
Judge learned that they were all made out and lacked on 
the signature of the Governor. To facilitate the business, 

* Lieut. Bruce commanded the Company during its whole term of service, Capt. 
Jennings being sick, and unable to act as Captain. 



LENOX. 495 

he offered to take them himself to His Excellency, who, on 
receiving them, placed his autograph to the documents, one 
after the other, till coming to one belonging to Capt. Jen- 
nings' Company, he stopped and very gravely inquired : " Is 
this by order of Capt. Jennings ? " 

The 75th Regiment had its head-quarters at Quality Hill ; 
Col. Zebulon Douglass was its first Colonel, Thomas W. 
Phelps its second, and Stephen L'ee its third. 

The Congregational Church, at this place, was organized 
with a large and influential membership, as early as 1809. 
Nathaniel Hall and John Hall were its first Deacons. Its 
first trustees were Zebulon Douglass, Sylvester Beecher, 
Asa Cady and Mr. Sessions. Its first minister, it appears, 
was the Rev. Mr. Palmer; the next. Rev. Mr. Hubbard. 
These two, however, could have been employed to preach 
but a short time, as the Rev. Ira M. Olds was the first reg- 
ular pastor installed at the time, or soon after the organi- 
zation of the church. The church building was framed and 
raised in 1814 ; it was a large and expensive edifice when 
all completed and dedicated in 18 19. 

Quality Hill, with its men of strength and influence, vied- 
with other sections of Madison County in holding the bal- 
ance of political power. ■ Hamilton and Lenox had the 
Courts alternately, up to 18 10. Judge Smalley was the 
first Judge. In this place, these alternate Courts were held 
in the school house near David Barnard's. The first trial 
for murder, in Madison County, that of Hitchcock of Mad- 
ison, for poisoning his wife, was held in Judge Smalley 's 
barn, the excitement being so great that the school house 
could make no approximation towards accommodating the 
numbers present. Judge Van Ness of Utica, presided at 
this trial, whose charge to the jury on the occasion, it has 
often been remarked, was one of the most remarkable pro- 
ductions of that day, or of any recent time. 

Among the early settlers of Federal Hill, (so named be- 
cause its prominent residents were Federalists,) was Thomas 



496 MADISON COUNTY. 

Y. Kneiss, who removed to this section about 1806. He was 
a man of fine abilities, and was highly respected for his pro- 
bity and good judgment. At one period, probably no man 
in town had greater influence. He held several town offi- 
ces ; was Justice of the Peace very early, retaining the of- 
fice several years. There is an anecdote told of Squire 
Kneiss, which is sufficiently illustrative to transfer : In 
that day, the office of Justice of the Peace was filled by a 
Council of Appointment. Mr. Kneiss was a thorough Fed- 
eralist, and when the Democrats came into power, (perhaps 
in 18 12,) members of that party in Lenox, appealed to the 
Council for a man of their own party to supersede him. 
When the papers removing him, reached the post office at 
Quality Hill, several Democrats present, who were in the 
secret, narrowly watched the Squire as he perused the doc- 
ument. Quite anxious to know its contents, <»ne of them 
said : " What is it. Squire ?" " Oh, nothing," quietly re- 
plied Mr. Kneiss, " only I can exclaim with the apostle 
Paul, ' sin revived and I died !' " 

Sylvanus Smalley, Walter Beecher, Zebulon Douglass, 
Nathaniel Hall, jr., Thomas Spencer and Sylvester Beecher, 
were early Members of Assembly from this town. 

Dr. Asahel Prior was one of the prominent men of Qual- 
ity Hill ; he came to this town about 1797, lived some years 
in a log house, and then built the second frame house erected 
on Quality Hill. Here the Doctor lived till his death, and 
his place is still occupied by his children. In 18 13, he be- 
came a member of the State Medical Society. The follow- 
ing obituriry notice is clipped from the Canastota Herald: 
"DIED — In Lenox, Jan. 12, 1856, Dr. Asahel Prior, aged 84 

years. 

Doctor Prior was a resident of this town 59 years. Possessed 
of sound judgment and superior skill in his profession, he 
was engaged faithfully, devotedly, and successfully in the per- 
formance of its arduous duties for more than 40 years and until 
incapacitated by the infirmities of age. Of gentlemanly manners, 
strict integrity, genial and kindly temperament, he won the re- 
spect and esteem of all classes of his lellow citizens. Hl- was a 



LENOX. 497 

:^ood citizen, an affectionate husband and father, an agreeable 
companion, in short his character shone brightly in all the social 
relations. He endured in common with his fellow citizens all 
the privations and hardships incident to the first settlement of a 
new country, and on no class perhaps do these hardships press 
more heavily than on the physician, in consequence of the bad- 
ness of roads and poverty of the sparse population, and conse- 
quent inability to remunerate his toils. When this now rich and 
populous town was a wilderness and only dotted here and there 
with the log cabins of the early pioneers. Dr. Prior was a wel- 
come visitor among their lowly habitations, and often to the sick 
and suffering poor were his valuable services rendered without 
fee or reward. He will be held in grateful memory by very 
many families whose maladies were healed by his medical skill, 
and whose sorrowing hearts were comforted by his cheerful and 
urbane deportment and kindly sympathy. One of the most dis- 
tinguished medical men* Madison County has produced, has 
ever gratefully recognized Dr. Prior as one of the most efficient 
of his early friends and patrons. But our venerable friend, after 
a long life of usefulness, has gone to that ' Undiscovered country 
from whose bourne no traveler returns.' 
" Peace to his ashes laid 
In the earth's cold bosom, peace." 



From a recent communication the following- particulars 
relating to individuals in this vicinity, are learned. A man 
named Cathcart, from Massachusetts, came to live in the 
vicinity of the present Canastota in 1805. He moved into 
Mary Doxtater's log cabin, for his home. Mr. Cathcart 
and his wife made friends with the Indians on the Reserva- 
tion, by whom they were surrounded. The Indian Chief, 
Hon Yost, was very friendly with the family, and was par- 
ticularly attached to Mr. Cathcart's little daughter of five or 
six years, (the present Mrs. Charles Stroud). He used to 
make grape-vine swings to amuse her and would allow no 
one to swing her but himself, lest she should come to harm. 
Years after, when the Reservation had been sold to white 
men, and the Indians had removed, Hon Yost, after twenty 
years' absence, and then near a century old, returned to see 
the white girl and receive from her hands garments to en- 

*Dr. Thomas Spencer. 
F2 



498 MADISON COUNTY. 

shroud his body after death, according to the customs of 
white men. About a year passed, and the worn out form 
of the venerable Hon Yost was wrapped in the garments he 
so longed to wear. 

It will not be amiss here to mention the family of the 
Strouds, who, theirselves, have been residents here since 
about 1 8 16. The two brothers, Sylvanus and Charles 
Stroud, were natives of Vermont. Both have been well 
know as contractors on the canal and other public works. 
Both are self-made, self-sustaining, and of the efficient bus- 
iness men of Lenox, as well as useful members of society. 
Mrs. Cathcart, the mother of Mrs. Charles Stroud, and the 
before named early settler in Canastota, is still living at the 
advanced age of ninety-five years. 

Early in this century, considerable settlement had been 
made in the southern part of the town. A new street was 
laid out about a mile north of and running parallel with 
" Mile Strip," which was settled by the Palmers and Ran- 
dalls, emigrants from Stonington, Conn., and from Rhode 
Island. " There were formerly," says R. Randall, of Clin- 
ton, Mich., "some twelve famdies of the Randalls and se- 
venteen of the Palmers." On " Lenox Hill," better known 
as " Palmer's Hill," there were living at one time six Joseph 
Palmers. To distinguish these, people gave each name an 
affix or prefix. There was " Squire Jo," and his son Joseph 
S., called " Sheriff Jo," he having been once Sheriff of the 
County ; another was "Jo Elijah," from being Elijah's son ; 
another was distinguished as "Jo Down," from having dwelt 
at the foot of a hill in Connecticut ; Joseph Palmer, 3d, was 
known as " Jo Deacon," because his brother was a deacon ; 
and the sixth bore the soubriquet of " Clever Jo." They 
were generally very respectable, industrious and - indepen- 
dent farmers. These families are now scattered all over the 
North West. 

Thomas Case located q'uite early on Palmer street, and 
Martin Lamb, formerly one of the Supervisors, was another 
early settler in the same vicinity. 



LENOX. 



499 



From information obtained of Mrs. D. Ciiase, who, in 
i8 14, when a child twelve years of age, resided a year in the 
family of" Clever Jo," we condense the following: In this 
neighborhood of Palmers, Goodwins, Randalls, Gallups and 
Cransons, the original dwellings, erected by the settlers on 
first arriving upon their lands, were double log houses ; if ad- 
ditions were made they were also of logs and for the pur- 
pose of having handsomer apartments, being nicely ceiled 
and having hard wood floors from the best timber in the 
forest. The huge stone chimneys, an improvement upon 
the old stick chimneys, invariably stood in the center of the 
houses ; in the ample fire-places the huge back-logs made 
cheery comfort in the long winter evenings, and on those 
broad hearth-stones the coals scarcely ever died out, for the 
day of "lucifer matches" had not yet arrived. As regularly 
as the hour of bed-time approached, just so regularly did the 
good man of the house rake the ashes over the bed of glow- 
ing coals ; and if, perchance, at earliest morning dawn — the 
hour at which all thrifty farmers rose in those days — he 
found not a spark of fire, forthwith some one of his house- 
hold was dispatched to the nearest neighbor, who might 
live a half mile off, or only just over the way, with the big 
fire shovel to " borrow " fire. Many a time has the luckless 
urchin sent upon this errand, weary with the weight of the 
iron shovel in attempting to shift it to an easier position for 
carrying, jostled the coals upon the ground, and before they 
could be replaced the last spark of fire was extinguished, 
■while his steps were to be retraced to obtain a fresh supply. 

Every farmer raised his patch of flax, and near the house 
or barn, a nice piece of meadow land was used for the plat 
upon which it was annually spread to rot. Every barn 
contained the flax hetchel ; every house was supplied with 
its hand cards for flax and for wool, its spinning wheel and 
inen wheel and loom, while every housewife spun and wove 
ler linen for summer, with its stripe or check of blue for 
iprons, the brown tow for the pantaloons and frocks for the 



c;00 MADISON COUNTY. 

men, the fine linen for lowels, for bedding and under wear, 
and her woolen for winter — the warm heavy cloths for 
men's wear, the more soft and thin for women and children, 
and for bedding. Their bed comforters were made of flan- 
nel stuffed with wool, " cotton batting " having never been 
heard of then. Other kinds of goods were seldom worn. 
America was just emerging from the war of 1812, and cor Id 
not afford to buy goods of foreign make. Some people 
bought " hum-hum," which was a rather thin and coarse 
quality of bleached shirting, for men's Sunday wear. Every 
woman had her visiting dress, or " ropper," (wrapper,) and 
shortgown of chintz or calico, which cost five or six shillings 
per yard, while a very stylish gown was made of cambric, 
some patterns of blue, others purple, lilac, plum color, 
black, &c., at a cost of one dollar a yard. The invariable 
go-to-meeting dress of summer, for every young lady 
was tbe simple and pretty white muslin or cambric. In 
winter, many matrons had their broadcloth cloaks, some 
black, though red was a very fashionable color. Our pres- 
ent water-proof, with hood, is cut very much after the 
style of 1 8 12-14, but those of that date were lined with silk 
and edged with fur or down. Black satin cloaks of the 
same shape, were also worn, at a cost of twenty dollars and 
upwards, while those of broadcloih often cost forty dollars 
each. But these were luxuries indulged in only by those in 
easy circumstances, while ladies of more moderate means 
contented themselves with the finest flannel, fulled and 
pressed, for cloaks. All families, rich or poor, wrought hard 
in the manufacture of home-made goods, bleaching their 
linen to a snowy whiteness by aid of weak ley and the bat- 
tle-board, an instrument resembling a small paddle, used 
instead of our modern washing machines in cleansing- 
cloth, s. Wringers and other labor-saving utensils, had noJt 
been dreamed of, and wash-boards were unheard of previous 
to this. The first wash-board ever seen in that section was 
brought into Lenox by a relative of Mr. Palmer, (his name 



'i 



LENOX. 501 

is forgotten,) who was on a visit from one of the Eastern 
States, in 1814. It was looked upon as quite a curiosit), 
and withal considered a great improvement. 



During all the years in which these various settlements 
were growing up, Oneida Castle, chiefly in Vernon, but 
identified with the interests of this town, was the chief vil- 
LiLCe of this section. It was then, nevertheless, an Indian 
village ; one in which great meetings were often held, when 
the Indians came from all quarters annually to receive their 
an n uities. Before the settlement of the country, Skenandoah, 
I ■le great Oneida Chief, kept a tavern here for the accom- 
iiiodation of travelers ; they spoke well of his house. In 
18 10, the Indian school house, and the Missionary church 
in which Mr. Kirkland preached, were there. DeWitt 
Clinton, on a journey through the place, in 18 10, says : — 

" At the end of the bridge over Oneida Creek, there stood 
a beautiful Indian girl, offering apples for sale to persons 
that passed. We saw Indian boys trying to kill birds, 
others driving cattle on the plains ; some Indians were 
plowing with oxen, and at the same lime their heads were 
ornamented with white feathers ; some were driving a 
wagon ; the women milking and churning — all indications 
' of incipient civilization. 

"About four miles from Stockton's, we stopped at Skenan- 
doah's house. He was formerly Chief Sachem of all the 
Oneidas ; but since the nation has been split up between 
Christian and Pagan parties, he is only acknowledged by 
the former. The Chief of the latter is Capt. Peter, a very 
■sensible man. The morals of the Pagans are better than 
(those of the Christians. The former still practice some of 
their ancient superstitions ; on the first new moon of every 
new year they sacrifice a white dog to the Great Spirit, and 
devote six days to celebrate the commencement of the new 
year. The Christian party are more numerous by one hund- 
red than the Pagan ; they are entirely separated in their 
e rritory as well as in their God. 



502 



MADISON COUNTY. 



" Skenandoah is one hundred and one years old, and his 
wife seventy-four. He is weak and can hardly walk. His 
face is good and benevolent, and not much wrinkled ; he is 
entirely blind, but his hair is not gray. He smokes, and 
can converse a little in English. He was highly delighted 
with a silver pipe that was given him by Governor Tomp- 
kins. His wife was afflicted with bronchocele or goitre. * 

* * * A number of his children and grand 

children were present. His daughter looked so old that at 
first I took her for his wife. Some of the females were 
handsome. His house is one hundred yards from the road> 
situated on the margin of a valley, through which a pleasant 
stream flows ; it is a small frame building, painted red, and 
adjoining it is a log house. There were four bedsteads in 
the room, composed of coarse wooden bunks, so called, and 
covered by blankets and pillows, instead of beds. A large 
kettle of corn was boiling, which was the only breakfast the 
family appeared to have. It was occasionally dipped out 
from the pot into a basket, from which the children ate. 
The furniture and farming utensils were coarse and those of 
civilized persons. 

" His eldest son came in spruced up like an Indian beau. 
His features are handsome. He ate out of the basket. 
It is said, on his father's demise, he will succeed him as 
Chief Sachem, but if I understand their system aright, the 
office of Sachem is personal, not hereditary. [See Indian 
chapter on this point.] ***** Such 
is the mode of living of the first Chief of an Indian nation. 
In England, he would be recognized as a King. * * 

" Abram Hatfield and his wife, Quakers, have resided here 
some time, having been sent by that society, principally with 
a view to teach the savages agriculture, for which they re- 
ceive $200 a year. Hatfield was sick ; his wife appeared to 
be a kind good woman, well qualified for the duties allotted 
to her. They are amply provided with oxen and instru- 
ments of agriculture, to administer to the wants and instruc- 
tion of the Indians. * * 



LENOX. 503 

" In this village, we saw several very old women, and there 
was an old Indian, named the Blacksmith, recently dead, older 
than Skenandoah, who used to say that he was at a treaty 
with William Penn. There was a boy far gone in consump- 
tion, which was a prevalent disease among them. Last 
winter, they were severely pressed by famine ; and ad- 
monished by experience, they intend to put in considera- 
ble wheat — to which they have been hitherto opposed — 
and they now have large crops of corn. They appear to be 
well provided with neat cattle and hogs. * * * 

They evince great parental fondness, and are much pleased 
with any attention to their children. An Indian child in 
Skenandoah's house took hold of my cane ; to divert him, I 
gave him some small money ; the mother appeared much 
pleased, and immediately offered me apples to eat — the best 
thing she had to give. 

" In passing the Oneida Reservation, we saw some white 
settlers, and it is not a little surprising that they receive 
any encouragement from the Indians, considering how often 
they have been coaxed out of their lands by their white 
brethren." 

In 1 8 16, a Mission was established at Oneida Castle, by 
Bishop Hobart, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Rev. 
Eleazer Williams taking charge. Under his ministration, 
the Pagan party was converted and became the " Second 
Christian Party of the Oneida Nation." In 18 18, this party 
sold a piece of land to enable them to erect a Chapel, which 
was consecrated by Bishop Hobart, September 21, i8i9,by 
the title of " St. Peter's Church." The edifice stood on the 
hill south-easterly from the " Butternut Orchard," in the vi- 
cinity of Oneida Castle. This was sold to the Unitarian 
Congregational Society of Vernon village, in 1840, and re- 
moved to that place. The same bell that formerly called 
the Indians to worship still hangs in its steeple. Some 
years since several of the Oneidas who had emigrated to 
Green Bay returned to visit their native home. During 



504 



MADISON COUNTY. 



their stay, some of them were at Vernon village, and the 
sound of the old bell greeted their ears ; they stood still in 
a group and listened reverently and in silence ; its solemn 
tones were recognized ; its well remembered peals vibrated 
upon their heart strings like loving spirit voices, hailing to 
them from the depths of departed time ; stoics, as they were, 
their eyes moistened, evincing the deep feeling of their na- 
tures on this sudden summoning to memory of the old 
scenes and associations in which the venerable bell had a part. 

Rev. Elcazer Williams went to Green Bay with the In- 
dians. [See the chapter on the Oneida Indians, given else- 
where.] 

In the mean time, Oneida Castle became settled with 
white people, and the village grew thriftily. An academy 
was early established, and maintained a good reputation 
among the academic institutions of the country. In 1841, 
the village was incorporated, at which time it contained 
about 400 inhabitants, sixty dwelling houses, one Presby- 
terian and one Baptist Church, two taverns and two stores. 

Lenox Furnace was another of the early enterprises of 
this town. It was located one mile south of Wampsville, 
and was, for a long term of years, the leading business in- 
stitution of the town. • 

The " Lenox Iron Company" was organized in 18 15, with 
400 shares of ^50 each, to be paid as called for by the trus- 
tees, and in default of payment thereof, the shares, and all 
previous payments were to be forfeited. The names of 
some of the original stockholders, were : — Judge Thomas R. 
Gould*, Whitestown ; William Cheever and Augustine J. 
Daubyt, Utica ; Conradt Moot, Lenox ; James S. Sennet, 
Lenox ; Eliphalet Sweeting, Paris ; John Sweeting, West- 
moreland. Subsequently, among others, the following were 
added :— Gen. Joseph Kirkland, Utica ; Gardner Avery, 
Paris ; William Cobb, Lenox ; Capt. J. N. Avery, Paris ; 

* Judge Gould was an eminent lawyer and jurist, of Oneida County, 
t At an early day editor of the Utica Observer. 



LENOX. 505 

Col. Stephen Chapman, Lenox. The first agent of the 
company was Lewis J. Dauby, of Whitestown, he being 
succeeded by Gardner Avery, who manufactured the first 
cast iron, in November, 18 16. He operated the furnace 
successfully several years. William Cobb succeeded Mr, 
Avery, and was agent till 1827, when J. N. Avery received 
the agency, and continued till the business was closed in 
1847, in consequence of the exhaustion of timber for char- 
coal, there being then no method of smelting iron with 
mineral coal. Iron ore was hauled to this establishment on 
sleighs, from Clinton, Westmoreland and Verona. The 
company manufactured hollow ware of all descriptions, in- 
cluding potash, caldron and salt kettles ; also castings for 
plows, and all kinds of shop and cooking stoves in current 
use. They began in the stove line with the first invention 
— " Dr. Noyes'* Parlor Stove," then considered a great 
achievement. The first pattern of the " Franklin Stove " 
was also cast here, and we presume, also, the first cooking 
stove, invented by David Gage. Connected with the works 
were a number of dwelling houses, the general boarding 
house, a blacksmith shop, a carpenter and joiner's shop, 
and a store and office. The place bore the title of " Lenox 
Furnace Village," and was so given, conspicuously, on all 
the maps up to 1850. 

George B. Cady now (1871,) has a woolen factory at this 
place, where doeskins, cassimeres, tweeds, satinets, flannels, 
&c., are manufactured. In 1867, it was fitted up with new 
machinery, and turned out 200 yards of cloth per day, with 
nineteen hands. The firm have also a good reputation lor 
custom work. 



The dry lands on the south border of Oneida Lake were 
settled after 1808, though Col. Cadwell was the pioneer in 
this section in 1807. He opened a clearing in the forest, 
laid out new roads, and did much during the first two years 

* Dr. Noyes was then a Professor in Hamilton College. 



5o6 MADISON COUNTY. 

in the way of inducements to others to settle. Oneida Val- 
ley was one of the early villages. One of the oldest Presby- 
terian Churches of the town was located here. This church, 
with a store, hotel and about thirty houses, comprise the 
present village. 

Durhamville is located on the Oneida Creek, mostly on 
the side, in the town of Verona, Oneida County. It 
was named from Eber Durham, who removed from Manlius, 
Onondaga County, in 1826. When he arrived, there were 
four log houses within the limits of the present village. By 
his energy and enterprise, a flourishing village soon came 
into being, its rapid growth being greatly promoted by the 
use of the hydraulic power, furnished by the surplus water 
here discharged from the Erie Canal, and turned to account 
by Mr. Durham, who leased it from the State. This source 
of prosperity is now dried up, the Canal officers having 
found that the rents were far from being equal to the dam- 
ages to navigation in times of low water. The enterprising 
business men, however, have endeavored to make good the 
loss by use of steam ; a steam flouring and grist mill, and a 
steam saw mill arein operation. The place has also a tan- 
nery, a glass factory and an iron foundry ; there are two 
churches, (Baptist and Methodist,) two taverns, two dry 
goods stores, nine grocery and provision stores, three ware- 
houses and various mechanics, with a population of about 
1000. In the earlier years of the Erie Canal, this point was 
known as " Hotchkiss Basin." I-- 18 16, Calvin Baker was 
married at this place. It was the first wedding of a white 
couple between Oneida Castle and Oneida Lake. 

Oneida Lake and South Bay are hamlets on the lake 
shore. 

Merrelsville is a hamlet in the south part of the town, 
having a woolen factory, which was one of the early woolen 
mills of Madison County. 

Pine Bush (at Bennett Corners Station on the Midland 
Railroad,) is also a hamlet located on the east road leading 



LENOX. 507 

from Oneida Castle to Knoxville. It belonged to the last 
Indian Reservation. There was formerly a store, hotel and 
several shops here ; a good Methodist Church was erected 
here some years since. Several years ago the store was 
burned ; the tavern is now the farm house of William 
Nelson. 

CANASTOTA VILLAGE. 

The land upon which Canastota village stands, was, in the 
first decade of this century, but a low, swampy forest, with 
a small clearing on the west side of the present village, trav- 
ersed by Canastota Creek. Canastota is located upon what 
was formerly known as the ** Canastota Reservation " which 
was a part of, and was reserved from the " Canastota Tract," 
when that Tract was purchased by the State from the Onei- 
da Indians. This purchase extended from Oneida Lake 
shore to within about a half mile of the Seneca Turnpike, 
and contained ninety-one lots. The Reservation consisted 
of 329 1-2 acres. In 1808, the State authorized 10,000 
acres of the Canastota Tract to be surveyed off to the 
Twenty Townships north of the Unadilla, each of those 
Townships to have 500 acres, to be appropriated to Gospd 
and School purposes. This took the most of the Tract, be- 
ginning at the Lake Shore.* 

Capt. Reuben Perkins, a resident of the west part of the 
town, came and obtained of the Indians the land which is 
now the site of Canastota, for which he obtained a patent 
from the State, in March, 1810, bearing the signature of 
Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor. At the time of his pur- 
chase seven or eight Indian families were living there m 
log houses, among whom are still remembered the names 

-Ic may be remarked here that on the survey of the "Twenty Townships "in 
1789, the Government made provision for the support of the Gospel and School^, 
and required the Surveyor General to mark two lots near the center of each to^n, 
of zso\cres each, to be reserved for those purposes. These T°wnsh>ps were ter 
wards sold to speculators without the proper reserve bemg made _ The .n.eu ent 
and religious emigrants who had taken up farms m those Townships ~ ^ ^^^ 
and petitioned the Legislature with such energy that an act was pasW app.opu ing 
the Canastota Tract to their use for said purposes. The avails have been accord 
ingly so used. 



5o8 MADISON COUNTY. 

of Hon-Yost and John August. On selling their land the 
Indians removed, and Capt. Perkins repaired one of their 
block-houses which stood on an eminence near where Dr. 
Jarvis now lives, built an addition to it and moved in. He 
afterwards built a frame house on the same spot, which is 
still in use, having been moved across the road by Dr, 
Jarvis and converted into a tenant house. Not far from 
Capt. Perkins' house stood the cluster of pines from which 
it is said Canastota derived its name. The railroad bridge 
which spans the creek in the village is the nearest point we 
are able to name to the site of this cluster of three pines, 
one of which was on one side of the creek, and two opposite 
it, on the other ; one of the latter had partly fallen and 
lodged in the branches of the others, forming a shady retreat 
which became a resort of the natives in the long summer 
days, in the closing years of their occupancy.* 

It is said that the name " Canastota," is derived from the 
Indian word " Kniste," signifying " cluster of pines," and 
" Stota,"t meaning "still, silent, motionless," which has yet 
greater significance. The lands were low, the stream slug- 
gish. To the swamp north of the village, the Indians gave 
the name of " Still Waters." Col. Cadwell remarked, (as 
given in Judge Barlow's sketch,) " I have many times heard 
the Indians bid their dogs be still by saying, 'stota! stota !' 
or 'be still! be still !' " Undoubtedly, both ideas, that of 
the " cluster of pines " and the " still waters," are intended 
to be conveyed in the word " Canastota." 

At the period of Capt. Perkins' purchase, no road led 
through from the turnpike northward ; there was only a 
crooked Indian trail which crossed the big swamp in the 

"A cluster of pines stood on the flat, farther down the creek, in the vicinity of 
the old saw mill owned by Mr. Hitchcock, west of the creek, by the hickory grove, 
which has been named as the cluster of pines referred to in the tradition ; but Mr. 
H., himself gives credit to the belief that the three pines uniting across the creek 
are the true ones. 

_ fFor the greater part of the history of Canastota, the author is indebted to a se- 
ries of graphic sketches on the early settlement of this region, published by Judge 
Thomas Barlov/, in 1868. 



LENOX. 



509 



direction of Oneida Valley. The above mentioned sketch 
relates an interesting adventure of Col. Cadwell, in iSo8. 
in traversing this swamp with a yoke of oxen, wagon, and 
load of seed potatoes, when he first began his settlement in 
the north part of the town. There is also a story of 1809, 
touching and sad, of Eli Barnard, Constable and Collector, 
(brother of Judge Pardon Barnard,) who, getting lost in the 
depths of this great forest, wandered about for many days, 
?nd at length laid down in the soft April snow, and died, 
where he was found after an anxious search, the ninth day 
after his departure from home ; and another thrilling inci- 
dent of a boy lost, and found alive on the fifth day. 

In 1 8 14, Capt. Perkins sold one hundred acres of his res- 
ervation purchase, it being the east part of the present vil- 
lage site, to Ephraira Sherman. This passed successively 
through the hands of Jason W. Powers, Samuel Halliday, 
Barnbort Nellis and Joshua A. Spencer, before it was cut 
up tor village purposes. In 1821, Thomas Hitchcock and 
Thomas N. Jarvis, from Amenia, Dutchess County, con- 
tracted with Capt. Perkins for the remaining tv^^o-thirds of 
the Canastota Reservation. Jarvis was a youth, but the 
enterprise was a grand one, and greatly for the interest 
of his father's family. The purchase price was $8,000. In 
April, 1822, the conveyance was made in due form to 
Thomas Hitchcock ; and in 1824, by arrangement, the Jar- 
vis farm, a part of the Reservation, was conveyed to Milton 
Barlow, (brother of Mrs. Lydia Jarvis,) who subsequently 
conveyed it to Lancelot Jarvis, the farther of Thomas N. 
Jarvis. On the death of the father, it was divided among 
the heirs, and since, has been parceled out in village lots. 

The springing up of a village at this locality, is due to the 
enterprise brought to bear upon this point on the construc- 
tion of the Erie Canal. This section of the Canal was laid 
through, about 1817. At that period, a noble wheat field 
flourished upon the village site, and but four houses modest- 
ly graced the landscape. Two of these houses were the res- 



- 10 MADISON COUNTY. 

idences of Capt. Reuben Perkins and Thomas Menzie, his 
son-in-k.vv ; one of the others belonged to James Graham, 
which was located where the spacious " Montross House ' 
now stands ; the fourth was on Peterboro street. 

The Canal brought with it a host of men, employers and 
employees, and forthwith sprang up taverns, groceries, stores 
and shops of various descriptions. James Graham converted 
his house into a tavern, and built a small store on the south 
side of the canal, on Peterboro street ; the spot is now occu- 
pied bv a block of buildings. Mr. Reuben Hawley built 
his first store near here, and the Grouses commenced busi- 
ness in it in the course of the year 1817. This store now 
forms a part of Mr. Reeder's feed store, but it then stood 
out on a line with the street. The latter, and his brother 
John, carried on a heavy mercantile business here for years. 
Capt. Perkins built the house at the corner of Main street 
and the Canal, (northeast corner,) for a hotel. He also built 
the brick store which stood where the malt house now 
stands. There was a brick yard south of it where the brick 
was manufactured from which the store was built. Samuel 
Halliday built the tavern near the corner of Peterboro and 
Cenier streets, now the location of the Center Hotel. About 
1 82 1 , Capt. Daniel Lewis built a dwelling house which stands 
on the west side of (now) south Main street, north of Mr 
Miller's large house, which is now owned by his wife, Mrs. 
Miller, daughter of the late John H. Rose. Another land- 
mark of the past yet remaining, is the house situated on the 
corner of Center and Main streets, which was built by 
Thomas Menzie about the same time. 

There was a saw mill built at an early day, which was on 
the present location of Reeder's grist mill. At a later period 
a saw mill was built near where is now located the cabinet 
works of Bolster. The brick yard near the brick store, 
was a small one, operated first by Mr. Gleason, afterwards 
passing through several hands, and was finally given up. 
More recently, brick has been made in considerable quanti- 



LENOX. * 5 1 I 

ties on Mr. Bander's farm, north of the canal. There is a 
steam saw mill and planing mill on Main street, built per- 
haps fifteen years since, which does a considerable business. 
The manufacture of salt was begun here about 1866, from 
welis sunk at places northwest of the village. 

Canastota has the honor of being the place where the cel- 
ebrated Hamilton College Telescope was made, by the firm 
of Spencer & Eaton, mathematical instrument makers. 
This telescope has a focal length of sixteen feet, with an 
object glass of thirteen and one-half inches diameter. 
The flint and crown discs for the instrument were imported 
from Germany; its cost complete was ^10,000. It is re- 
ported to be a very superior telescope, and in workman- 
ship is regarded as fully equal to the Munich instruments. 
Mr. Charles Spencer, of this firm, is a son of Gen. Ichabod 
Spencer, mentioned elsewhere, and is a native of Quality 
Hill. 

Although there has been considerable enterprise in man- 
ufactures, Canastota has been, and is more distinguished as 
a mercantile village. From its beginning, the place has 
grown steadily. From Judge Barlow's sketches we gather 
a statement of the business of the village at the time of his 
arrival here in 183 1. There were then three public 
houses ; one kept by Joseph C. Spencer, the " Graham 
House," where the " Montross House" now stands; the 
" Canastota House," now the village bakery, kept by 
John B. Youngs ; and one at the west end of the canal 
basin, (built by Capt. Perkins,) then, or subsequently kept 
by Eliab Joslin. There were three stores in the place ; 
that of Messrs. J. & D. Crouse ; Reuben Hawley's at the 
east end of the then canal basin, on Peterboro street, and 
one kept by Samuel Hitchcock on the west side of the vil- 
lage, on Main street, at the present corner of Main and 
Lumber streets. Nahum Fay, Elias Palmer, Capt. Robt. 
Bishop and Widow Tuttle were grocers. J. C. Spencer 
had been in business, but at that time had closed his store. 



512 



MADISON COUNTY. 



A. D. Van Hooser carried on the hatter business in a shop 
where the DooKttle Block now is. The village then had a 
population of 406. The finest house on Peterboro street 
was that built by Dr. Spencer, standing where Col. C. B. 
Grouse now (1868,) lives, but was moved off. and is now oc- 
cupied bv Allen Hutchinson ; it was then owned and occu- 
pied bv Dr. Thomas Spencer. A brick house on ]\Iain 
street was built by Samuel Hitchcock, in 1S3 1, for an Acad- 
emy or school building ; the upper ston.- was a chapel, and 
the jMethodists held meetings there. Where John Mont- 
ross' dwelling stands, was a large building called " Tr\ on's 
Hall," in which meetings were held, and just east of Morris 
Lewis' stood a very long house called the " Town Hall," 
in which public meetings, both secular and religious, 
were held. In 1833, the two churches, the " Dutch Re- 
formed " a;:d " Methodist," were built. 

On account of the low, swampy situation of the land, it 
required much labor to render a large portion of the village 
plot, fit for streets and building lots Center street was then 
several feet below its present bed, and almost impassable 
on foot, in spring and fall. Several houses stood on posts 
before their owners had filled in their lots. Still the village 
progressed, — enlarged its area, increased in population ; in 
1835, it was incorporated. In 1840. the Central railroad 
gave it a new impetus. In mercantile interests it is now 
one of the leading villages of Central Xew York. 

Messrs. J. & D, Crouse (^brothers.) may be considered the 
leaders and fathers of mercantile business in Canastota. 
Their tact, energy and economy insured to them from the 
first a steady and rapid prosperity. They commenced in 
181 7, in the store of the Hawleys, where they continued 
three years, then moved into the building occupied by A. 

B. Clark ; afterwards they bought part of the " Boat House," 
had it moyed on the street, and fitted it up as a store at a 
cost of about Si, 000. They continued in this store till 1834, 
when they went again into the Hawley store and remained 



LENOX. 



513 



till they built the large brick " Crouse Block." In 1853, 
the firm of J. & D. Crouse terminated ; John, the elder of 
the firm, went to Syracuse and entered upon the wholesale 
grocery business ; other members of the family joined in 
co-partnership with Daniel ; but in 1863, the latter remov- 
ed to Utica and opened there as a wholesale grocer ; and 
so the firm in Canastota ceased. Other mercantile firms in 
Canastota have been prominent, but being of later date 
were not so directly identified with the growth of the place. 

Canastota, at present, is increasing in size and beauty ; 
new streets are being laid out each year, new houses are be- 
ing erected. Southward, fine mansions are frequently ris- 
ing, greatly to the beauty of this conspicuous part of the 
village. Large, noble looking blocks are occupied as stores, 
and artisans in all departments are increasing under the same 
roofs. The new " Railroad House " is a conspicuous and no- 
ble building. The public Hall (Beecher's,) is pronounced to 
be one of the best in the central part of the State. The 
" Doolittle Block," also fitted up with a public hall which 
would grace any city, is not to be forgotten as among the 
first buildings of the place. It was built by Francis Doo- 
little in 1869. It is situated a little south and opposite of 
the "Beecher Block." Both blocks confer honor upon their 
enterprising proprietors. In addition to the manufactures 
already mentioned, there are two large carriage shops and 
two tanneries, A new Cemetery, laid out south of the vil- 
lage, is being beautifully arranged and decorated, and is the 
pride of the citizens. A spacious fair ground indicates the 
public interest in the " Farmers' and Mechanics' Associa- 
tion." 

It is due to the memory of Reuben Hawley to say that 
he was one of the highest esteemed business men of Can- 
astota in its earliest days. He started in business here in 
1 8 17, and built a very capacious store for a country village, 
on the west side of Peterboro street, south side of the Erie 
Canal. The same building has been moved back, and is 

G2 



514 



MADISON COUNTY. 



now occupied by Reeder & Son as a grocery and feed store. 
It was occupied by the Messrs. Grouse until they built the 
laro-e brick block before mentioned. Mr. Hawley also built 
a very neat mansion on the east side of Peterboro street, op- 
posite his store, in which he resided many years. That 
building is now remodeled and forms the store of Brush & 
Bell. There was probably no country merchant west of 
New York who had the confidence of the New York mer- 
chants to a greater extent than Reuben Hawley, His hap- 
py spirit and genial way of doing business inspired all with 
confiding respect, and he succeeded to a field of business for 
a great distance around the country. He finally left Canas- 
tota and entered into business in the village of Chittenango, 
but soon after died, which is now many years ago. Being 
of the first merchants of Canastota, he will ever be identi- 
fied with her history. He was the father of the well known 
jeweler and business gentleman of Syracuse, Col. Dean 
Hawley. 

CANASTOTA SALT WORKS. 

Almost from the first settlement of this section by the 
whites, from indications upon the surface of the earth, and 
from the geological fact that wherever there is a strata of 
gypsum and limestone rock upon the hills, the valleys con- 
tiguous abound in veins or reservoirs of salt water, it has 
been generally believed that salt water existed in the vicin- 
ity of Canastota of sufficient strength and quantity to be 
manufactured with success and profit. About fifty years 
ago, salt was made to some extent from the water of a deep 
spring dug in the marsh about three-quarters of a mile west 
of Canastota, by Capt. Oliver Clark, one of the pioneer set- 
tlers. Acting upon these hints a company was formed a 
number of years ago at Canastota for the purpose of making 
experiments upon the salt water tested by Clark. A well 
was sunk in the marsh some 400 feet, but the drilling ma- 
chine by some accident was broken and the work was aban- 
doned. The water they obtained on the surface was two 



LENOX. r I c 

and a half degs.by the instrument used, which was increased 
by the boring to nine degs. In 1863, a company was again 
formed in Canastota, who revived the work* and with such 
success as to induce them to prosecute it. The Company 
was reorganized in May, 1867, under the general Mining 
and Manufacturing laws of the State of New York, with a 
capital stock of $100,000 divided into 1,000 shares of ;^ioo 
each. The Company contracted with Daniel Lewis for fifty 
acres of salt territory, located a little west of the village 
along the Erie Canal, and commenced operations which 
promise to be successful to those engaged in it. 

PROMINENT MEN. 

Capt. Reuben Perkins came from Connecticut to this 
State, and first located on Oak Hill, where he built a house 
and lived until he made his famous purchase of the Canas- 
tota Reservation. He was an active business man through 
life, having engaged in various enterprises pertaining to the 
progress of the village. He was appointed first Superin- 
tendent on this section of the Erie Canal. He sold the 
fine estate he acquired by his purchase of the Canastota 
lands, before the village began to increase materially, and by 
misfortunes and the unsuccessful and unwise use of his 
money, became poor. Some of the earlier landmarks of 
Canastota attest his enterprise, and many of the inhabitants 
remember him in his better days, when prosperity shone 
upon him, as an active, genial and generous man. He was 
a patriot soldier of the Revolution. He was twice married, 
having seven children by his first wife, five of them daugh- 
ters. One daughter married Capt. Wm. Jennings ; another, 
Thomas Menzie ; a third, Warren Colton, and a fourth, 
George B. Rowe. The two sons, Reuben and Calvin, and 
all these daughters, have passed away, leaving no represen- 
tative to perpetuate the name. Capt, Perkins survived to 
his ninety-fourth year, when he too passed away, having 

*Daniel Grouse, D. H. Rasbach and James H. Woodford, were of the first 
committee. 



ri5 MADISON COUNTY. 

been for years oblivious to all around, through the loss of all 
mental power. 

John Montross. — Extract from his obituary notice pub- 
lished in the Canastota Herald : — 

" Died, March 26, 1869, \rr John Montross, aged 58 years 
and 7 days. Mr. Montross may be classed with the old or 
early inhabitants of this place, and among our most influential 
and' prosperous citizens. He came here over thirty-years ago. 
In his early life he was dependent upon his own efforts and 
merits for his success, and at an early day gained the good will 
and confidence of all who became acquainted with him. His 
life has been marked for its industry and economy, which was 
capital superior to money itself, as an encouragement in the 
world. * * * His prompt and faithful way of doing busi- 
ness, and frankness in matters of opinion, gave him a good 
name far and near, and whilst his friends were vastly numerous, 
he had but few if any enemies. At an early day he attained to a 
popularity which secured to him various official trusts from the 
people of his town, and he showed a business tact, coupled with 
integrity, which made him an excellent and approved officer in 
every position conferred upon him. He was always a man of 
praise-worthy public enterprise, and in the dutys imposed on him 
in the affairs of our village, he was always for those improve- 
ments promising the growth and prosperity of "the place. He 
was one of the first and most active in starting and securing 
the project of the Cazenovia and Canastota railroad, and on all 
occasions of meetings, near or far distant from home, he did 
not allow bad weather or traveling to prevent his attendance. 
At no time did he allow unfavorable circumstances to discourage 
him or dampen his ardor. He was a continous, uncompromis- 
ing advocate of the work, and flattered himself that at a day 
not far distant, he would see the trains running and doing a 
prosperous business over the southern hills to the village of 
Cazenovia. His industry and energy carried him from his early 
want to a fine estate, and he lived to see a day of ease and 
plenty, yet died in the prina<e and full power of manhood." 

He reared a family of sons to adult age, leaving three to 
mourn the loss of his wise counsel and careful guidance, a wife, 
an ever kind and affectionate husband, and an aged mother, the 
supporting arm of a dutiful son. Another writer speaks of Mr. 
Montross : — "His name was identified with every enterprise 
which has tended to the growth and prosperity of this locality." 
Maj. Gen. Ichabod Smith Spencer was the oldest of 
of four brothers, all of whom were men of ability and mark 
in this section. The General being the eldest, and there- 



LENOX. 



517 



fore the earliest upon the stage, was the power that raised 
to prominence in professional life all of his brothers ; for as 
soon as he became able in his own profession, he took them, 
as it were, upon his shoulders, and carried them along in 
their studies and into their professions, they aiding them- 
selves what they could by school teaching. 

General Spencer was born in Suffield, Conn., July 11, 
1780 ; and the year succeeding his birth his parents moved 
to Great Barrington, Mass., where the rest of their family 
of children were born. The General was married in 1801, 
and removed to th-e county of Madison, N. Y., in 1802, 
where he continued to reside till the time of his death. 

He was a student of law, under Hathaway & Sherman, 
Esqs., Rome, and entered the profession and practice of 
law in 1808. One who was well acquainted with his re- 
markable powers of mind, thus writes : — 

" Mr. Spencer passed with rapid strides, by the energy and 
activity of his own powers, to a distinguished prominence in the 
profession. The science of pleading was then intricate, techni- 
cal and refined, and he soon took place among the first and 
foremost as one of the safest and best special pleaders in our 
State. As a Chancery pleader, we may say there was none be- 
fore him. His power of discrimination was great, and no man 
would discover a legal point, and give it prominence and weight, 
in pleading or brief, before him. His mind would run through 
a case with astonishing rapidity, and no point would escape his 
notice, or fail of receiving the consideration due to its import- 
ance. * * * 

It was not for the legal profession alone that he was pre-emi- 
nently qualified. There were elements also in him equally well 
befitting the military character. In 1813, during our war with 
England, he was ordered into the service of the United States 
as Adjutant, under the command of Col. Button and Brig.-Gen. 
Collins, and marched to the frontier at and near Sackett's Har- 
bor. His services on the frontier were necessarily short. He 
returned home in 1814 ; and the discharge of his military duties 
were so honorable that a train of promotions was soon opened 
before him. In that year (18 14,) he was promoted to the office 
of Captain, and very soon after to that of Colonel of the 74th 
Regiment of Infantry, and a few years later to Brig.-Gen. of the 
35th Brigade, comprising the counties of Chenango and Madi- 
son. This office he held undl 1847, when he resigned it. 



5i8 



MADISON COUNTY. 



And whilst he was thus so well calculated for the profession 
of law and for military life, he was most happily calculated for 
the social circle. His very nature was social, mingled with that 
hio-h sense of manly reserve which made him both a standard 
and a favorite. As a neighbor, he was all that could make him 
a friend to the needy or suffering, and no man was more ready 
or willing to favor or befriend. And it is here that society has 
experienced the loss. A friend, a neighbor, has gone, no more 
to mingle his sympathies, or'extend his helping hand." 

Hon. Joshua A. Spencer, the celebrated lawyer and 
advocate, was one of these brothers. He distinguished 
himself especially upon one occasion — in his defense of 
McLeod in i84i,soon after the close of the "Patriot War," 
so called, of 1836 and '37. McLeod, a Canadian citizen, 
came over the border on our Canada frontier at Schlosser, 
near Niagara Falls, and in a raid with the men of his com- 
mand, committed a murder, for which he was indicted and 
tried at Utica. Mr. Spencer defended him, setting up as 
the principal ground of defence that it was a state of war 
between nations at the time of the killing ; that McLeod 
was acting in the defense of his government, and was not 
individually answerable. The trial lasted many days and 
was one of much excitement. Spencer succeeded, and as 
a reward for his services the British Government gave hira 
a thousand pounds sterling, being $5,000. 

Rev. Eliphalet Spencer, another brother, became a 
prominent minister of the Presbyterian order ; and Dr. 
Thomas Spencer, the fourth and we believe the youngest 
brother, became a prominent physician, and held various 
professorships in medical institutions. All, as we have 
seen, attained to signal prominence in life, and all were self- 
made men. Not one of them is living at the date of this 
record. 

Joseph Bruce was born in Roxbury, Mass., January i, 
1 78 1. His father, a native of Scotland, came to America in 
childhood with his parents, and in maturity became one of 
the daring patriots of the "Boston Tea Party." 

In his childhood, Joseph Bruce came with his mother, 



LENOX. 



519 



(then a widow,) to New Hartford, Oneida Co., and there 
remained till he was eighteen years of age. In early youth 
he acquired habits of industry and self reliance, preparing 
him for an after life of success. 

Soon after his marriage with a dayghter of John D. 
Nellis, of Whitestown, he settled in Lenox, in 18 10, on 
Quality Hill, where he resided more than three score years. 
Here he became engaged in mercantile pursuits in co- 
partnership with Dr. Nathaniel Hall, and through life the 
two were warm friends. He also became identified with 
the most important public affairs of the locality, from the 
first. In the war of 18 12, in a company of Light Artillery 
of which Wm. Jennings was Captain, Mr. Bruce was 
appointed Lieutenant, and marched to Sackett's Harbor with 
his command. His Captain being sick, he had charge of 
the Company during their time of service. Joshua Spencer 
was an Orderly in the same Company, and he and Mr. Bruce 
were life-long friends. After the wa-r, being a leading spirit 
in the old military organizations, he was commissioned 
Captain and then Major, and by the latter title was known 
through life. 

Mr. Bruce was a Magistrate for many years ; was Post- 
master for a long period, and filled many other positions 
with honor. One who knew him well, wrote : "His life was 
characterized by those virtues which win confidence and 
esteem, and whether in public or private life, he held to 
principles which were a bulwark against even the app.oach 
of suspicion." He was always a consistent and an active 
Christian, and helped to build up and sustain the old Con- 
gregational Church of Quality Hill. As a business man 
he was energetic and upright, possessing qualities which 
fitted him for almost any position. He became a stock- 
holder in several banking institutions, among which was the 
Mechanics Bank of Syracuse, and the Bank of Whitestown, 
and was an efficient President of the bank last named for a 
number of years. 



520 MADISON COUNTY. 

Toward the close of his hfe he turned his attention to 
farming more than he had hitherto done. His fine farm on 
Quahty Hill, and those of his sons, adjacent, attest the 
care and skill bestowed, and evince an unusual relish for 
rural occupations, characteristic of father and sons. 

He was too frank and outspoken for a successful politician, 
and was never fond of the political arena. Socially he was 
a man of warm and constant friendship, kind and generous 
to the deserving and affectionate in his family. 

Joseph Bruce, Esq., died at his residence in Lenox, Jan, 
27, 1872, aged eighty-three years. He came down to his 
grave " like as a shock of corn cometh in his season." 
His aged companion to whom he had been wedded three 
score years, survived him a few months. "Died, in Lenox, 
August 9, 1872, Maria, relict of the late Joseph Bruce, 
aged eighty years." (Note n) 

From a newspaper published at the time of the death of 
Hezekiah Beecher, one of the prominent citizens of Canas- 
tota, the subjoined is taken : 

"Hezekiah Beecher, the subject of this sketch, died in Can- 
astota, on the 8th of November, inst, (1870,) aged nearly 76 
years. Hezekiah Beecher, was born in Bethany, New Haven 
county, Conn., Dec. 28, 1794, and had he lived until next month, 
28th, he would have been 76 years old. He came into this town 
of Lenox, Madison county, on the 15th day of April, 1816, on 
which day he was married, and settled down in business life on 
Quality Hill. 

He carried on the tanning and leather business there, and 
continued residing there sixteen years, when he moved to Can- 
astota, where he resided until his death. Thus it will be seen 
that he was one of the first, and lived to be one of the oldest of 
our inhabitants, whilst it may most truly be said, one of the most 
upright and esteemed of our citizens. His industry and economy 
were proverbial. * * * 

His moral virtues were such as to render him the choice of the 
people of his town, for various places of trust in their gift, even 
when he was politically in the minority. He had been under- 
sheriff of the county, constable and collector for many years, and 
was promoted to the office of justice of the peace, which he held 
for numerous terms of four years each. 

His mquiring mind and discriminating judgment were such, 



LENOX. 



521 



that from his experience in official and judicial duties, that he be- 
came so conversant with the principles and practice of law, that 
many years ago he was licensed to practice the profession ex 
grada, without pursuing a clerkship of studies. Though quiet, 
unassuming and retiring of habit and nature, he is greatly 
missed. The poor, the sick and suffering, needing a sympathizer 
and friend, have experienced a loss. 

Capt. Daniel Lewis* was one of the earliest settlers of 
the flats. He was born in Washington County, in 1798. 
When a small boy he came on with his father, Eleazer 
Lewis, to the town of Augusta, Oneida County ; from there 
the family removed to Vernon, and from there to Oneida 
Castle, where they lived in the block house with the half 
breed, Lewis Denny. Eleazer Lewis worked Denny's farm 
on shares. From here he moved to Quality Hill, in 1806, 
and lived two years. He then purchased Lot 78, of the 
Canastota Tract, and a piece of Lot 82, and moved into a log 
house situated where Col. Lamb now lives. His farm was 
all woods, with no road leading to it. Daniel's youth was 
spent here, receiving his education in the district school of 
Canastota, which was first taught by Dea. Cadwell, in an 
Indian log hut just west of the present residence of Dr. Jar- 
vis. His best education was gained in the stern school of 
necessity, where was formed those habits of industry, pa- 
tience, perseverance, economy, integrity and straight-for- 
wardness, elements which comprise a most worthy and use- 
ful character. He early became dependent on his own ex- 
ertions and soon learned to surmount difficulties on the way 
to prosperity. His first venture was to purchase a village 
lot of Reuben Perkins, for which he paid ^250. This was 
considered in that day a bold move for a poor young man ! 
By hard working by the day or job, he soon reahzed a suffi- 
cient sum to build. His enterprise and industry soon won 
him credit and a place in public favor, for when he was 
found to execute all trusts committed to his care with un- 
tiring industry and devoted faithfulness, he was given, first, 

*Much of the story of Capt. Lewis' life is from Judge Barlow's sketches, pub- 
lished in the Canastota Herald in 1868. 



522 



MADISON COUNTY. 



a place as foreman on the canal works, and soon gradually 
arose from that up to Superintendent of the Division. It is 
said the State never had any one in the charge of public 
works of more untiring vigilance than Capt. Daniel Lewis. 
No barrier, no weather, hot or cold, rain or snow, wind, mud, 
darkness or tempest, would deter him from duty or cause 
him to relax the care which was essential to the protection 
of the canal. Often in the severest storm he was on duty, 
lantern in hand, examining the banks of the canal ; in case 
it was necessary, the midnight found him and his squad of 
men out at work. Ten, twelve and more miles were thus 
traversed at any and all hours by this trusty servant, re- 
gardless of health, strength or life. For seventeen years he 
was thus employed, when he passed on to higher trusts 
confided to him by the " Syracuse & Utica Railroad Com- 
pany," by whom he was employed as Dept. Superin- 
tendent. Next he occupied a corresponding position on the 
Hudson River Railroad. He was ten years employed in 
this capacity, ending with the year 1850. 

His surplus earnings in youth he invested in real estate 
making his second investment in the purchase of a farm of 
one hundred acres, of Samuel Halliday. Following in care- 
ful steps, from one round of the ladder of fortune to another, 
and never faltering in the practice of industry, fidelity and 
economy, prosperity crowned his efforts and blessed the 
riper years of his exemplary and successful life. 

Up to the time of his last brief illness, he was in the pos- 
session of good physical and mental powers. His home 
was near the M. E. Church, which he adorned with his mu- 
nificence and beautified with his fine taste. A few years 
since, he caused a beautiful triangular park to be laid out, 
in the space afforded by the corners of the roads, nearly in 
front of the church. In a laudable spirit of enterprise and 
generosity, he, at his own cost, covered it with trees and 
evergreens, and surrounded it with a post and chain fence, 
thus securing it against all encroachments. 



LENOX, 523 

Capt. Lewis spent his closing years in the quiet pursuit 
of farming and in the enjoyment of domestic hfe. His first 
wife was Miss Lorana Perkins, daughter of Benjamin Per- 
kins, whom he married in Broome County. After her de- 
cease, he married Miss Carrie A. Way, of New Haven, Con- 
necticut. 

Daniel Lewis died at his residence in Casastota, Feb. 23, 
1872, aged seventy-five years. He left a widow and two 
daughters to mourn the loss of an affectionate father and 
husband. 

ONEIDA VILLAGE. 

This place was named "Oneida Depot," in the beginning. 
June 20, 1848, it was incorporated under the name of 
" Oneida Village." Its origin is due to the enterprise 
awakened by the passage of the Syracuse and Utica Rail- 
road through its locality. The lands, including its site, to 
the amount of several hundred acres, were owned by Mr. 
Sands Higinbotham, who, in 1829 and again in 1830, made 
purchases here. That of 1829, was purchased of indi- 
viduals ; that of 1830, from the State of New York. In the 
autumn of 1834, Mr. Higinbotham removed here from Ver- 
non, where he had long been a merchant, and located his 
residence on the south side of the present village. That 
part of his estate, and also the valley lands, were cleared. 
In 1837, the Syracuse and Utica Railroad Company located 
their railroad across his farm and made one of their impor- 
tant stations there, naming it " Oneida Depot," from the 
contiguity of the " Castle," and the time-honored name de- 
signating this section of country. The forest was cut 
through to make place for the track, and in the spring ol 
1839, the woods were cleared away to make space for the 
erection of the hotel called the " Railroad House ;" — the 
same Railroad House of to-day, near the track of the Cen- 
tral* The opening excursion on this road, made on the 

*Ic will be remembered that railroad communication through New York State, 
as far as it went at that day, wa= effected by connecting the tracks of the several 
Companies having sections of road in operation. (See page 134.J 



524 



MADISON COUNTY. 



4th of July, 1839, was a great day for this section of coun- 
try. The old woods of Oneida had never before, even in 
the days of the Indian war whoop, been so startled from 
their quiet. The day, its impressions, the gay, wild scene, 
will not be forgotten by those who participated in its two- 
fold rejoicings. In all the coming years, a 4th of July sun 
may not again look upon the like in this section ; the heavy 
forest all around, the new cut stumps, the white logs 
stripped of their bark lying prone near by, the piles of 
brush, the broken earth, the freshness of everything bear- 
ing foliage ; — and then the great crowd of humanity, and 
the long train of old fashioned railway coaches which slow- 
ly and carefully bore away their freight of adventurous ex- 
cursionists. Among the latter were a few — a ve^y few — of 
the remnant of red men remaining here, of the once numer- 
ous and powerful Oneida Nation. Fancy could read sad- 
ness in their faces at this last inroad of a scarcely under- 
stood civilization upon the domain of their ancestors and 
their own homes. If, with the transcient and soon gratified 
feeling of curiosity, they were, in the main, mourners upon 
the scene, it need be no marvel. 

The Railroad House was built by Mr. Higinbotham ; its 
first landlord was Henry Y. Stewart. Mr. Higinbotham 
began selling lots this year. The first dwelling was built 
by Charles R. Stewart, on the site where the " Coe Block " 
now is. The same house is now used as a dwelling on 
Broad street. The store oi S. H. Goodwin & Co. was the 
first store of importance in Oneida, and gave character to 
the mercantile business of the place. Mr. Goodwin started 
in May, 1 844, his first business place being a wooden struc- 
ture on the site of his present store, on Madison street. It 
was burned in 1862, and rebuilt of brick the same year. 
The first telegraph office — the " Western Union " — was 
established in 1S46, under the care of I. N. Messenger ; it 
was so entirely an experiment, that to secure it, a guarantee 
of a certain income for the first year, was entered into by 



LENOX. 



525 



seven of the citizens. Thereafter, however, it was a suc- 
cess upon its own merits. Twenty-one years ago, the only 
block of importance in Oneida was the brick "Empire 
Block," which was considered the building of the town. It 
was built by Asa Smith, tanner and currier, boot and shoe 
maker, and also post master. He is now a resident of Roch- 
ester. Taking a view down Main street, south, the business 
blocks on the wert side, with their original proprietors and 
present occupants, may be noticed as follows : — The block 
next the " Empire," where Charles I. Walrath is located, 
was built by James A. Bennett in connection v>^ith Charles 
and Joseph Walrath ; Albert E. Coe built the block adjoin- 
ing Walrath on the south ; next is the " Devereaux Block," 
built by Horace Devereaux, its present owner ; then the 
" Merchants Exchange," built by Timothy G. Seeley ; next 
the " Walrath Block," built more recently by D. & C. H. 
Walrath ; then the " Oneida Valley National Bank," and 
the " First National Bank;" next, the block occupied by 
Barker & Randall, in which is the hall of the " Good Temp- 
lars," and built by Loomis & Atherly. Crossing now and 
coming north on the east side, first is the block now owned 
by Wm. Lyle, built by C. & D. Walrath ; next to this is 
the Patrick Devereaux block, which he built ; E. H. Curtis 
erected the next building, and that in which Mrs. R. O. 
Coe keeps a millinery store, was built by a Mr. Williams. 
The jewelry store of Chapin & Sons was built by Samuel 
Chapin, The east side, thus far, has been built up within 
ten years. Continuing on north, is Cleveland's drug store, 
built by Hollis Mannering ; the building occupied by Chase 
& Chappel was erected by Ephraim Beck, and is now owned 
by Dr. J. W. Fitch ; the corner block, in which is " Masonic 
Hall," was built by Newcomb and Charles Fields ; the 
" Gen. Messenger Block," at the north corner of Phelps 
street, was built by Gen. Messenger, who owned all the 
buildings between Phelps and Madison streets, on the east 
side ol Main, except the National Hotel, which was built by 
Frank Gleason. 



MADISON COUXTV. 

The Eagle Hotel was built by Nelson and Ira Morris. 
By the side ot this hotel, John W. Allen built a large store 
house, which was occupied by Hill, Allen & Co. This has 
been merged into the present spacious Eagle Hotel. 

On the north side of Madison street, before 1862, there 
was the dry goods store of S. H. Goodwin, the drug store of 
R. I. Stewart, the cabinet ware rooms of Jones & Hulburt, 
and the large building of R. X. Van Evra, used for numer- 
ous shops, and which, with several others, was swept away 
by a destructive fire in August, 1S62. All the north side 
of this street, between Main and William streets, except the 
residence of T. C. Thompson, was destroyed. i\Ir. Good- 
win rebuilt the same year, and recently the burnt district 
has again been built up. On the south side of Madison 
street, Grove Stoddard built the store now kept as a cloth- 
ing store. The " Kenyon block " was formerly the store 
of Theodore C. Thompson and Sidney Rivenburg — then a 
wooden structure. 

The " Bacon Hotel " was formerly the residence of Pie- 
man H. Phelps, at the time. Superintendent of the Utica & 
Syracuse Railroad. Mr. Bacon purchased it and converted 
it into the present hotel. " Northrup's Hotel " was one of 
the early public houses and was kept by Blodgett. This 
house changed hands several times before it came into Mr. 
Northrup's possession. 

To improve the condition of the village, the trustees 
passed the following resolution at a meeting held Oct. 11, 
1869: 

Resol. ed. That the erection of wooden buildings within the 
following limits in this village is hereby prohibited, viz : On 
Madison street, from west line of William street to Main street. 
Also, on Main street, from north side of Mulberrs' street to Mad- 
ison street, and N. Y. C. R. R. 

We sum up the general status of Oneida as last noted by 
us in the summer of 1871. At that date, the population 
within the corporation was about 4.000. There were nine 
dry goous stores, as follows : Randall & Barker, C. A. & 



LENOX. 527 

D. H. Walrath, W. H. Dimmick, A. E. Coe & Son, S. 
& E. Kenyon, John E. Stone, T. C. Thompson, P. C. 
Lawrence and S. H. Goodwin & Son. There were also 
eight grocery stores, viz : Carter Bros., Douglass & Down- 
ing, David Walter, Harry Walter & Co., Stone & Schuyler, 
A. Hill & Son, and Matthewson & Rivenburg. Also, there 
were the two hardware stores of Farnam & Son, and A. R. 
Turner ; five or six boot and shoe stores and several shops 
for custom work ; several clothing, and hat and cap stores ; 
a number of millinery and furnishing stores and shops ; 
three watch and jewelry establishments ; two bakeries; four 
meat markets ; an extensive sash and blind factory and sev- 
eral lumber yards.* There were five hotels and a num- 
ber of restaurants. We may note that the chief hotels 
were kept by C. Bacon, Fred. Allen and P. R. Miner. 
There were six religious societies, the Presbyterian, Baptist, 
Methodist, Episcopal, Catholic and Universalist, all having 
houses of worship except the last named, which used Dev- 
ereaux Hall. The corporation included two commodious, 
brick, common school houses, and the Oneida Seminary un- 
der the charge of the Presbyterian Synod. There were two 
national banks, and we believe two private banks. 

There are, in all, about ten lawyers in the village ; also, 
several physicians of each of the popular "schools." There 
are two unusually well supported weekly newspapers pub- 
lished here, the " Oneida Dispatch " and the " Democratic 
Union," both large, well conducted sheets, giving full re- 
ports of local news from all parts of the County ; also, two 
and a half miles out, at the Oneida Community, the " Oneida 
Circular," weekly, is published ; less in size than the village 
papers, but full of advanced ideas and information pertain- 
ino; to their own agricultural, horticultural and manufactur- 



*The tannery of George Berry was one of the most thriving firms of Oneida. It 
was built in 1857 at a cost of 87,000. Important additions were made in the way 
of machinery, and otherwise, at considerable cost. In 1871 it was_^ destroyed by (ire. 
At the time there was stock in the tannery to the amc.unt of 89,000, and Mr. 
Berry's loss was about 87,000 above the insurance of l?9,coo. 



528 MADISON COUNTY. 

ing enterprises. The Main streets of Oneida village are 
lio-htedby gas. The corporations of Oneida Castle, Oneida 
and Durhamville, are in a nearly straight line north and 
south, and adjoin. 

Thus far have we gleaned in reference to the building up 
of the business portion of Oneida village. The limits of 
this work will not permit an enumeration of further enter- 
pi ises which are flourishing within the limits of this rapidly 
growing town, enterprises which are making their mark, ac- 
cumulating wealth, extending the village borders in all di- 
rections and establishing the foundations of a city. 

SANDS HIGINBOTHAM. 

We should not pass without further notice, the name of 

one who has contributed largely to the prosperity of Oneida ; 

who has been identified with its chief enterprises ; whose 

fatherly care has been extended over all its interests. We, 

therefore, append the following extract from the " Oneida 

Dispatch," published on the death of the individual to whom 

we refer, under date of Sept. i8, 1868 : 

'■'■The Late Sands Higinbotham. — To the many friends of the 
late Sands Higinbotham it will be a satisfaction to recall, or to 
learn, some of the principal incidents of his life. He was born 
in March, 1790, in the County of Rensselaer, in this State, and 
a few years afterward removed with his parents to Central New 
York. In his youth he went to Utica (at that time a small vd- 
lage,) to reside in the family of his half brother, the first Watts 
Sherman, who was several years his senior. He spent the pe- 
riod of his residence there ; first as an attendant of one of the 
schools, and then as a clerk in the store of Mr. Sherman ; and 
some are now living in Utica, who still have pleasant memories 
of him in those days of his boyhood and youth. From Utica, in 
the year 1810, when he was twenty years of age, he went to Ver- 
non to reside, and there commenced business for himself as a 
merchant. During his twenty-four years' residence in Vernon, 
he was known as an honorable and prosperous merchant, and as 
a wise and conscientious man, whom all esteemed. During this 
time, also, he became acquainted quite extensively wdth the 
leading minds, not only of his own County of Oneida^ but of the 
State ; and in many instances the friendships then formed were 
severed only by death. Many men now living will remember 



LENOX. 



529 



him at this portion of his life, with the greatest respect and af- 
fection. About the year 1830, he purchased several hundred 
acres of land where now is located the embryo city of Oneida, 
and in the autumn of 1834, he took up his residence upon 
it. In 1837, the Syracuse and Utica Railroad Com- 
pany located their railroad across his farm, and made one 
of their important stations there. In July, 1839, the cars com- 
menced to run ; and from that date, under the fostering care of 
Mr. Higinbotham, the village of Oneida has steadily grown and 
improved, from year to year, without drawback or change, ex- 
cept to a greater and more rapid improvement as time went on. 
Here, in the last thirty-four years, (a generation in itself,) the 
crowning work of his life was done. His strict integrity, his 
sound sense, his genial spirit, his large heart, were elements of 
attraction which drew around him a circle, not only of citizens 
and business men, but oi friends. Religion, good morals, edu- 
cation, all received the fullest aid in his power to give ; and 
everything that was of interest to Oneida, also interested him. 
As his reward, he has lived to see his cherished home become 
one of the most thriving and beautiful villages of Central New 
York. Although always feeling an earnest interest in the pol- 
itics of the country, and in his early years taking an active part 
in the movements of parties, he yet constantly and steadily re- 
fused to accept any political office or nomination. He was, 
however, a Trustee of Hamilton College for the last thirty years 
of his life, and until very recently continued his regular attend- 
ance at all meetings of the Board, giving them the benefit of his 
ripe counsel and great experience. For the last two years his 
growing infirmities made it necessary for him to retire from ac- 
tive labor ; and now, in the evening of his busy life, his work be- 
ing done, he has peacefully gone to his rest ; the honored patri- 
arch, the much loved husband, father, neighbor, friend." 

We also append the following notice of another citizen, 
some years since deceased, (Sept., 1866,) who was also dis- 
tinguished and useful. 

"Death of Gen. J. M. Messenger.— It is with the deepest 
sorrow we find ourselves called upon to record the death of one 
of our most prominent and respectable citizens. Gen. John M. 
Messenger, who died at his residence in this village, on the af- 
ternoon of Tuesday last. * * * Gen. Messenger was widely 
known, having for a long period taken an active part in the 
political, as well as other matters of Madison county. Originally 
from Massachusetts, in 1808, we believe, he came to the town of 
Smithfield, where he lived for a number of years, afterwards re- 
moving to Lenox. As already remarked, he sustained a prom- 

H2 



530 



MADISON COUNTY. 



inent position, owing not only to natural ability and practical 
judgment, but also sharing, in a large degree, that force of char- 
acter and indomitable will that always gave him marked influ- 
ence in society. Holding several important offices of trust, 
among which were those of Sheriff and representative to the 
Leo-islature, he proved himself honorable in discharging all the 
duties pertaining thereto. * * * As a citizen, always interested 
in the growth and welfare of our village, as a neighbor, kind and 
obliging, as a man, upright and respected, his loss will be deeply 
felt. His last hours were made peaceful and happy by leaning 
for support upon the arm of his Redeemer, and his eyes closed 
in death with hardly a struggle. The funeral services were at- 
tended on Thursday afternoon, from his late residence, by a 
large number of sorrowing relatives and friends." 

LAW FIRMS OF ONEIDA. 

I. N. Messenger opened the first law office in this village 
in 1848. He was a graduate of Hamilton College in the 
class of 1839, and soon after entered into the study of law. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1843, under the old Chan- 
cery practice. On being established in Oneida, Mr. Mes- 
senger associated with himself J. C. Sloan, as partner. Soon 
after, Mr. Sloan and M. J. Shoecraft formed a co-partner- 
ship. Delos W. Thompson was the next to open an office. 
Afterwards John Snow* came and became a partner with 
Mr. Shoecraft, and Mr. Sloan went to Janesville, Wiscon- 
sin. In Nov., 1863, Jas. B. Jenkins, former associate of H. 
T. Jenkins, District Attorney, of Oneida County, came to 
Oneida and entered into co-partnership with I. N. Messen- 
ger. He had been a law student with Hon. Timothy Jen- 
kins, (whose reputation as an eminent lawyer was not lim- 
ited to this State alone,) and was admitted to practice in all 
the courts of the State, at the July term of the Supreme 
Court of 185 1. He had practiced law some years at Oneida 
Castle, and previous to his establishment in Oneida, had been 
four years assistant District Attorney of Oneida County. 
The firm of Messenger & Jenkins has continued to the pres- 
ent time (1872). Soon after Messenger & Jenkins became 
established, Gen. Z. T. Bentley and W. W. Goodell came 

* Siace deceased. 



LENOX. e o J 



and opened offices. Both of these talented lawyers are now- 
deceased — Gen. Bentley in 1870, and Mr. Goodell in 1871. 
Josiah E. Ferry and Clarence Carskadden have opened law 
offices at a more recent date, and are still in practice • and 
John C. Kennedy, Esq., late law partner of W. W. Goodell, 
deceased, is also now practicing here. 



The Oneida Valley Bank commenced business in 185 1, 
imder the General Banking Laws of the State of New 
York. N. Higinbotham, Banker and President ; Samuel 
Breese, Vice-President ; T. F. Hand, Cashier. In the 
following year, (1852,) its capital was increased to ^105,000, 
as an association, under the same laws and with the same 
officers. In 1865, in common with all the old State Banks, 
it was changed to a National Bank under the name of " The 
Oneida Valley National Bank of Oneida," without change 
of capital or officers. It will be remarked that now, after 
twenty years of prosperity, the same officers who started 
with it in 185 1, still continue its management. 

" The First National Bank of Oneida" was organized 
October i, 1864, with a capital of ^125,000. Its first 
Directors, were : — Horace Devereaux, James J. Stewart, 
Samuel H. Fox, Franklin M. Whitman, James A. Bennett, 
Ambrose Hill, Simeon B. Armour, Stillman Spooner, Alvin 
Strong, Zadoc T. Bentley and Christopher A. Walrath. 
First Officers, were : — Horace Devereaux, President ; Jas. J. 
Stewart, Vice-President ; Virgil Bull, Cashier. 

Present Officers : James J. Stewart, President ; Samuel 
H. Fox, Vice-President ; Virgil Bull, Cashier. Alvin 
Strong and Zadoc T. Bentley, among the original Directors, 
are deceased ; they are succe"bded by DeWitt C. Stephens 
and W. H. Bennett. Stillman Spooner is succeeded by 
Virgil Bull, as Director, and Horace Devereaux by Andrew 
J. Frost. The capital of this Bank remains the same as at 
the beginning. A surplus fund of about ^30,000, has 
been set aside out of the earnings since it commenced. 



i;^2 MABISOX COUXTT, 

iS5& First Traiii^e^es : — Jaraes Barneit. Peterb^ro ; Ralj^ 
H, AveT>\ v~ ^ ' ' v 

G, DcstTscace, Oa^da CasJte ; Gksa. H, Sandfcff-d, Va«c!a . 
S,\:irjel BTt:e>ae, L X, Messi ' :>es A ■ T,F, 

HAiid,E>C Saiinaers, Ge. ... . . :y, G, V ^ . T G. 

Se^ev, Anibrv^Sie Hill ami Mi:r<>n Baruett, C 

Firs: Oiti^cr*; : — D,',:'!ie: GP ^ ^^, 

S,V4iJford A^.vi Gvxxivdn 1\ Si>p«.\. , v. . .> :> . :\.„,n 

chc»sea AttxMiK'y, The Ba:!ik commeaced b^jsiness A 

1:^65. It? "-^^ -^^^ ■ -"-^ ^-^- '■ -^ ' '^- . i 

$^i6^t5i>^^. . ^ -;" 

as in the be^nmi^, with the esroq^aftoa ot the siabs: . : 
o3 J, X, A -. R C Samv^er^ as V ^ s 

James Bar - . J, Fcwte ar>d J^^n^es A - , e 

also retired by resiir^'i^ticvTu aaid Timoiby G, SeeJev^ place 
h^^ " :~es c»f :^ - ■ - r 

n^v .. ._ . r X. _ . . ,.Aasto^ A/-., , .. AC^ 

J, Stewan, J, N«ewdl Averv *»d S K^ayon* of Osxeid*. 
The R^Tsking: . Barr>ess Siai^ ^ MiiTJTx>e~ a 

jviivate i;v5dtatic«i >c,. iSji. The Central Bank, als<> 

a priwite baak, was opened in iS^i, by Ja&. D, KHhiim, 
Presivieiit, aijd W. E, NiwtiiTaps Cashkr, 

This Serainmy was o; -^ . . . :he ein:ierpn$e of » ^xir 

i-^.div^.daals. It was iiievvrncvrsTed Juh\ 1^57, and sschccV. 
cyciie^l ii\ > . year, Planr.ei <.>n a 3^^;>s: 

ai te;vied with large esc^. >, It hss h ;>tri-vc 

pro\xvi itsielf ti> ha\^ beea» aji exceik»t 
ire ■"■ : -':-^ ~- -" -r--'^ -> Rev,G, i^ ^^^ 

F - xev. J, IX : has 

n^aac 1:5! impress and matk Joe ^iX>d ispon the c 
aroviand it Rev. T. D. Ho>5i^htoa leslgtied at the c . <c - 



LENOX. 



533 

the Seminary term in 1872, having been principal for the 
past three years. The school is under the care of the Pres- 
byterian Synod of Utica. The seminary, with its proposed 
endowmentof $50,000 will enter upon the coming year with 
renewed vigor. Oneida Seminary is pleasantly located in 
the south part of the village ; its buildings are handsome, 
convenient and elegantly furnished, its grounds cheerful 
and laid out with taste, presenting, on the whole, an appear- 
ance not surpassed by any school of the kind in Madison 
County. 



Masonic. — Oneida Lodge, No. 270, of Free Masons, was 
organized in 185 1. Its charter is dated June 22, 1852, and 
is executed by Nelson Randall, Grand Master ; Joseph D. 
Evans, Deputy Grand Master ; Dan. S. Wright, S. G. War- 
den ; Jarvis M. Hatch, J. G. Warden, and James W. Powell, 
G. Secretary. Its first officers were : Lucius Brooks, W. 
M. ; George W. Harp, S. W. ; Daniel Y. Lipe, J. W. ; Lu- 
cius Brooks was W. M. for three years, George Harp four 
years. Nelson Morris one year, and Alonzo E. Cherry held 
the same office from 1859 to 1869, with the exception of the 
year 1864, when Horatio Lewis filled that position. In 
1870, O. M. Randall was W. M. ; in 1871, Orrin Collins. 
The lodge has 140 members and may be considered a flour- 
ishing branch of the Order. 

Doric Chapter, R. A. M., was organized in 1867, A. E. 
Cherry, M. E. H. P. A. R. McKenzie held that office in 
1868 and 1869, and A. E. Cherry again in 1870 and 1871. 

Odd Fellows. — A Lodge of the I. O. O. F. had an exist- 
ence here from 1853 to 1857. It has recently been reor- 
ganized. 

Good Templars. — Oneida Chief Lodge, I. O. of G. T., was 
organized in Oneida Village in October, 1866. Its first W. 
C. T. was William Snook. It is yet a flourishing and suc- 
cessful society. The P. G. W. C. T. of the State, Rev. 
Silas Ball, resides here (1871). 



534 MADISON COUNTY. 

Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria. — There is 
also a Lodge of this Order here, which was organized in 
February, 1871. First W. C, James B. Jenkins.* 

Fire Companies. — The village has three fire companies ; 
Protection No. i, Protection No. 2, and Hook and Ladder 
Company. 

ONEIDA COMMUNITY 

Is located on Oneida Creek, in the town of Lenox, Madison 
County, and Vernon, Oneida County. The dwellings and 
the principal firm buildings are in Lenox ; its two largest 
manufacturing establishments and a large proportion of the 
land is in Vernon. It is situated about four miles southerly 
from Oneida Village. The Midland Railroad crosses their 
land and has a depot at this point. John H. Noyes founded 
this Community in 1848. It now numbers about two hund- 
red members. There are also two branches ; one located at 
Wallingford, Conn., where there are forty members, and 
another at Willow Place, located on a detached portion of 
the domain, one and a quarter miles from the main family, 
where there are thirty-five living, engaged in manufacturing. 
There are valuable water powers on the premises, all of 
which are improved. The business of Oneida Community 
is in general agriculture, fruit growing and preserving, and 
manufactures. 

The Community started with a capital of ^100,000, in- 
vested in lands and buildings. They were not, however, 
successful, financially, for a few years, but as time wore on, 
and the demand for their products increased, they prospered 
in a pecuniary sense, and now the Community has proper- 
ty to the amount of half a million of dollars, and this con- 



*Mr. Jenkins is a strong advocate of temperance. He organized the first tem- 
perance society in Oneida in the fall of 1863, and continued its President for five 
years ; has been a member of the Good Templars' Lodge since its organization ; vi^as 
a charter member ofthe Temperance Order called New Volume, and continued its 
Chief Counselor till its consolidation with the Good Samaritans and Daughters of 
Samaria in Feb., 1871 ; has been Worthy Chief of that Order since then 5 is Right 
Worthy Deputy Grand Chief ofthe R. W. G. L., of G. S. & D., of S. of the 
State of N. Y. His is the law otftce ofthe G L. of America. 



LENOX. 



535 



stantly increasing in value. The dwellings are pleasantly 
located a few hundred yards west of Oneida Creek ; they 
consist of the original mansion house erected in 1848, sub- 
sequently enlarged, three stories high, including basement, 
with a ground area of 35 x 72 feet ; a large brick mansion 
built in 1 86 1, 45 X 72 feet, three stories high, with a wing 
also three stories high, 41 x 57 feet, and a four story tower, 
18 feet square ; and several buildings adjacent, or attached as 
wings to the old mansion house. These are surrounded by 
a lawn and ornamental grounds, several acres in extent, ar- 
tistically laid out with walks and drives, and planted with 
trees, shrubs and flowers. A few rods in the rear of the 
dwellings, is a large brick building three stories and a half 
high, 31 X 72 feet, devoted to the laundry department, fruit 
preserving, dentistry, printing office, school, &c. On the 
opposite side of the road is a large building occupied as a 
store, shoe shop, tailor shop, harness shop, &c. West of 
the dwellings, some distance, is the depot of the Midland 
Railroad. The barns for the storage of the abundant crops 
and for the housing of their excellent dairy, are models for 
farmers, being arranged on the most scientific plan. 

Of the manufactures, steel trap making is the leading busi- 
ness, giving employment to about one hundred persons. 
It was first introduced by Mr. Sewall Newhouse, who be- 
came a member in 1849. He had long been known in this 
section as a successful trapper, and maker of a superior kind 
of steel trap. In 1855, Mr. Noyes turned his attention to 
the manufacture of this commodity, and with the aid of the 
inventive genius of members of the Community, machinery 
was applied to the manufacture, and a superior article was 
soon produced. Six sizes of traps are manufactured and 
find market all over the country, and in large quantities 
throughout the west and northwest. In the manufacture of 
sewing silk and ribbons, about one hundred persons, chiefly 
women and girls hired from the surrounding country, are 
employed. Great care is exercised that the work be well 



536 MADISON COUNTY. 

done, the silk being imported from China and of the best 
quality. The sewing silk is regarded by buyers as the best 
in the country. The Community bag manufactory makes 
about thirty variety of bags, including all kinds in use, viz : 
ladies' satchels, gentlemen's sacks and bags, and Noyes' 
patent lunch bag, &c. Besides the above branches of man- 
ufactures, there is a machine shop, a foundry, a saw m.ill, 
and a carpenter and joiners' shop. 

In gardening and orcharding, Oneida Community excels ; 
their orchards and fruit grounds cover about fifty acres. 
The orchards embrace the best known varieties that can be 
grown in this climate, of apples, pears and plums. With 
careful and scientific cultivation, they succeed in keeping 
their fruit trees in the best of condition, tolerably free from 
disease and insects and producing abundant crops. Their 
small fruits, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, grapes — 
tons of the latter being raised — are of the best varieties, and 
yield a great income. The products of the garden are equally 
prolific and profitable. Fruit-preserving has been carried 
to a high state of perfection and yields a handsome profit. 

Financially, Oneida Community is a success. Its manu- 
factures, of traps, silks, &c., together with the exports of so 
great an abundance of produce, brings a large revenue. 
The following statement made in 1870, we believe is sus- 
tained by the facts : " Besides supporting the members of 
the community, nearly $300,000 worth of goods here man- 
ufactured, were sold by their agents last year," They em- 
ploy about two hundred hands not of their own organiza- 
tion, paying good wages. 

Socially these people " are a law unto themselves" — liv- 
ing in a manner not in accordance with the laws or usages 
of New York State. Their real estate is nominally held by 
the leading men in whom the body have confidence, the 
property being equally the property of aU. Their commu- 
nity of interests, as of one family, embraces the social rela- 
tions. They designate this mode of life as "Complex Mar- 



LENOX. 537 

riage," which is fully set forth in a book writteti by J. H. 
Noyes, entitled the " History of American Socialisms." 
Their prosperity is probably due the efficient management 
of the founder and those associated with him as its leaders. 
It is believed, however, that in time, internal disagreements 
arising from the unnatural theory upon which their social 
structure is based, will cause their overthrow. Their so- 
cialism is confined entirely to themselves — with outsiders 
they deal only in a business way. They are pleasant people 
to deal with, being straight-forward, honest and fair. They 
show themselves intelligent, peaceable and kind-hearted. 
The following extract from Pomeroy's letter, after visiting 
there, [see Oneida Dispatch, March 8, 1870,] maybe of in- 
terest here : " The women were dressed neatly and in 
something like the bloomer costume, but in different col- 
ored goods and material. They all looked clean, neat and 
modest, though lacking in that elasticity of look and vivac- 
ity one finds in an equal number of women in ordinary 
homes. The men were clad as men generally are, in that 
variety of style suiting them best, and on the whole were a 
good looking, clean-faced, intellectual set of people, without 
viciousness or traces of dissipation. At the Oneida Com- 
munity there is no profanity — no coarse or vulgar language 
— no using intoxicating liquors as a beverage — no using to- 
bacco in any form — no words of unkindness. Each one 
seems to respect not only himself, or herself, but others. 
Some of the family were old, some middle aged — a few were 
young. The women take turns in house work. The ones 
who wait on the table this week, do something else next, 
that labor may not be a monotonous drudgery. In the 
evening the " family," old and young, meet in a small room 
resembling a small theatre. Here we found a stage, pri- 
vate boxes, chains, sofas, little tables, &c., as cozy as you 
please. Here the entire family meet each other at night to 
talk as do other families — to listen to music from piano and 
other musical instruments — to sing and chat, and visit — to 



538 MADISON COUNTY. 

talk freely concerning the acts of any and all members of 
the family, but in words of kindness — to witness tableaux, 
theatrical exhibitions, &c." 

This is the recompense — these external comforts received 
in exchange for that domestic sanctity which we call home 
— for the destroying of those sacred ties between husbancj 
and wife, parents and children. 

CHURCHES. 

The First Baptist Church of Lenox, in Clockville. This 
church was formed at the school house, near Joseph Palmer's, 
on Palmer Hill, Dec. 20, 18 10. Eight brethren and sisters 
composed the membership, as follows : Elder Paul Maine, 
Stephen Palmer, Caesar Moody, Asvena Maine, Chester 
Palmer, Joseph Palmer, Roswell Randall and Prudy Palmer. 
Stephen Palmer was first deacon. Elder Paul Maine was 
first pastor. In 18 18, a branch church was formed in the 
north part of the town, which in 1820 was re-organized as 
an independent church, and was called the " Second Baptist 
Church of Lenox." In December, 1822, a re-union was 
effected, and in August, 1823, the house of worship was 
erected at Clockville, 

TJie Baptist ChiircJi of Oneida. This church, in connec- 
tion with a mission school for the Oneida Indians, was 
established by the Hamilton Baptist Missionary Society in 
December, 1820. First missionary and teacher, Rev. Rob- 
ert Powell, of Hamilton. This became known as the " Mis- 
sionary Church of Oneida Ca tie." In 1848, under the 
labors of Rev. L. J. Huntley, who was pastor at Oneida 
Castle, a Baptist Church was organized at Oneida and a 
house of worship was soon erected. In 1849, the society 
was transferred from Oneida Castle and permanently lo- 
cated at Oneida. The church edifice was dedicated Janu- 
ary 23, 1850. 

The Clockville M. E. Church was built by the Protestant 
Methodists, on Oak Hill. The house was subsequently 
taken down and removed to Clockville, and there rebuilt. 



LENOX. 



539 



Nicholas Bort was a resident local preacher, who exerted 
his influence towards building up the society. 

The Methodist Episcopal CInirch of Canastota. The first 
class of this society was formed about 1830. The house of 
worship was founded in 1833, but was not completed for 
some years. It was, however, used for meetings in 1835. 
Rev. Mr. Chapin was their first stationed minister. In 
1837, the house was finished and dedicated. In 1859 '^ 
was enlarged and repaired, and in 1866 it was nearly built 
anew. It is situated on the northwest corner of Chapel and 
Main streets. 

TJie Protestant Reformed Dutch Omrch of Canastota. 
This church was organized at a meeting held April 30, 
1833, at the house of A. D. Van Hooser. First Deacons 
Charles Spencer and Samuel Halliday. The same year the 
church edifice was erected. Rev. Thomas Gregory was 
first pastor. The house stands at the corner of Peterboro 
street and the railroad. 

The Independc7it Church of Canastota, was organized as a 
Free Church in 1845, the society being strongly anti-slave- 
ry. The purposes of the society were, that the house should 
be free for " all purposes as shall serve the cause of useful 
knowledge, and free discussion of all subjects pertaining to 
the public welfare, the rights of conscience and the worship 
of God." In 1864, the society started anew with a still more, 
liberal creed on an anti-sectarian basis. The house which 
was built in 1846 was burned in 1 871, and a new brick one 
has been built on the same site, at a cost of ^6,000. 

The Presbyterian Omrch of Oneida, was formed in 1844. 
with a membership of thirty persons. The meeting house 
was finished and dedicated in January, 1845. Rev. James 
Nichols was first pastor. The house has been twice en- 
larged, the last expenditure for that purpose amounting to 
^1,600. 

St. Johns Omrch (Episcopal,) of Oneida. The first reli- 
gious services of this church were held in the village school 



540 MADISON COUNTY. 

house about 1842. by Rev. Mr. Battin of Rome. In 1850, 
occasional services were procured, (having been suspencled 
during a period previously,) under the auspices of Bishop 
DeLancev. In 1857, R. W. Oliver, their first regular pas- 
tor, was employed. In 185 8, the Gothic Church, after 
Upjohn's plan, was erected by Mrs. N. P. Randall and 
Mrs. Niles Higinbotham. In 1869, the rectory was built. 

JMcihodist Episcopal Church of Oneida. The first class 
was formed at Oneida Castle. As early as 1850, the class 
had been removed to Oneida Castle. Rev. A. L. York was 
first settled pastor. The society built their house of wor- 
ship in 1851, which was dedicated in the winter of 1853. 
Improvements and additions have been made, from time to 
time, the last change being made in 1866, at a cost of near- 
ly S4.000. 

[See page 495, for Congregational Church of Quality Hill.] 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Contemporary newspapers speak of the existence of a 
newspaper published in Canastota in 1S29, called the Vide tic. 
It had a brief existence. 

The Canastota Register was published in 1830 by Silas 
Judd and Henry B. Mattison ; in 1831, by H. S. Merrit. 

The Canastota Times wa.s commenced in 1857, by Geo. H, 
Merriam. In November of the same year, it became the 
Herald and Times. In the spring of 1858. Mr. Merriam 
sold to Frederick A. Williams, who then became editor ; it 
was continued a few weeks and then given up. 

The Canastota Eagle \vd.s started November 4, 1858. by 
J. E. N. Backus, and was published about three years ; then 
it passed into the hands of Smith Van Allen, and was called 
the Canastota Weekly Gazette. Under the latter name it 
was transferred to F. A. Darling, who, in 1861, entered the 
army and the paper went down. 

The Canastota Herald was commenced in September, 
1866, by Arthur White, and continued by him tiU April, 
1867; then it was published by White & Greenhow, one 



LENOX. 



541 



year ; it then passed into the hands of Greenhow & Sons. 
The latter firm sold to Mr. Shaffer, who sold to Walter C. 
Stone, in 1871, by whom it is now published. 

The Oneida Telegraph, a weekly paper, was commenced 
at Oneida, in September, 185 i, by D. H. Frost. In June, 
1854, it passed into the hands of John Crawford, and was 
changed to 

TJie Oneida Sachem, under which name it continued until 
May, 1863, when it was changed to 

The Oneida Dispatch. From March to October, 1864, 
Edward H. Spooner was associated with Mr. Crawford in 
the publication of the Dispatch. September 16, 1865, it 
passed into the hands of Purdy & Jackson. In June, 1870, 
E. H. Purdy withdrew, and M. M. Allen became associated 
with D. A. Jackson. The Dispatch continues under the 
firm name of Jackson & Allen, publishers. 

The Democratic Union, weekly, was moved from Hamilton 
to Oneida in 1863, by Wm. H. Baker, who continues to 
publish it here.* 

The Circular is a weekly paper published by the Oneida 
Community. It was originated in 1857. 



* Sines deceased. 



K,4.2 MADISON COUNTY, 



CHAPTER XI. 



LEBANON, 



Boundaries. — Geography. — Township No. 5. — Pioneer Settle- 
ment. — VV^illiam S. and Justus B. Smith. — Naming of Leba- 
non. — Improvements. — Proposed Village at Smith's Valley. — 
Names of Early Settlers. — Sketches of Early Citizens. — 
Lebanon Village. — Customs. — Spelling School. — Enterprises. 
— Churches. 

Lebanon is bounded on the north by Eaton, east by 
Hamilton, south by Chenango County and west by George- 
town. Its surface is a hilly upland, lying between the 
Chenango and Otselic Rivers. The summits are from 500 
to 800 feet above the valleys. Extending through the east 
part is the valley of the Chenango River, averaging about 
one mile in width, and bordered by steep hill sides. The 
Midland Railroad curves and sweeps along the brow of the 
ridge on the east side of the valley, and the traveler has a 
view overlooking a scene of enchanting beauty, — broad and 
handsomely cultivated farms through which the Chenango 
gracefully glides, a trail of light on a background of velvety 
green, — tasty farm cottages and noble family mansions of 
the fashion of a day gone by, — all kept in perfect order by 
the thrilty husbandman. To the westward, rolls hill after 
hill, smooth (so they appear trom the "Midland" view,) 
and green with verdure, bordered with remnants of the 
once great forest. Down these hillsides rush numerous 
brooks, tributaries to the Chenango. Among these hills 



LEBANON. 



543 



the State of New York found a convenient "basin" to 
store up water for the Chenango Canal, and in 1866, at con- 
siderable expense, fashioned it into a great reservoir. In 
the northwest part of the town is "Cranberry Marsh," 
owned by the Fisk family. In 1868, parties interested in 
the mill facilities of the Otselic Creek in Georgetown, 
obtained the privilege of using this water, when they 
opened the outlet leading to the Otselic, and raised a dam 
to regulate its flow. 

Passing through the southeast corner of this town was 
the old Utica and Oxf)rd Turnpike, which, however, never 
really merited the title of Turnpike, as it was never com- 
pleted. It was originated by a company who proposed to 
carry it through by having each farmer build that part of 
the road which passed his farm. Some farmers built it, but 
a greater number did not ; consequently the road was never 
chartered, never finished, and gates were never put up. 
There were, however, many taverns, and a great deal of 
traveling which kept them full of business. 

On the east, Lebanon is bordered by the Chenango Canal. 
Besides the Midland Railroad, the town has the Syracuse 
and Chenango Valley Railroad, which crosses from near 
the center of the west line to the village of Earlville, at the 
southeast corner. The old State road from the Chenango 
Vrilley to Syracuse, is the general course followed by this 
railroad. Of the two million dollars which this road cost, 
the town of Lebanon bears twenty-five thousand dollars in 
individual subscriptions ; and this, when the town is bonded 
heavily for the Midland. 

Lebanon, No. 5 of the Twenty Townships, was originally 
included in Hamilton. It was set apart as " Lebanon " by 
an act of Legislature, February 6, 1807, and was undoubt- 
edly named in remembrance of the town of Lebanon, Conn., 
the native home of many of the settlers. There is, how- 
ever, an anecdote related, which gives the following version 
of the naming of this town: When the bill was passed in 



544 



MADISON COUNTY. 



LegislaUue, forming this with other new towns, General 
Erastus Oeaveland, being the member who advocated the 
bill, was asked what name the inhabitants of No. 5 proposed 
to call their new town. This matter of a name had not 
been attended to by the town's people, but the General's 
ready wit served him in the emergency. Quick as light- 
ning his menial vision swept over the magnificent forest 
which distinguished Township No. 5. A poetical fancy 
framed the thought, " Like the tall cedars of Lebanon !" 
The far-feiched and musical-sounding name leaped to his 
lips as soon as the thought assumed form. The question 
was answered, the name accepted, and the people of the 
new town were pleased with the title because it represented 
their own native Lebanon. A cotemporary remarks that 
the settlers of Lebanon weie devotedly attached to the cus- 
toms of their native country, and they so firmly planted its 
customs here that the Lebanon of Madison County is a 
veritable counterpart of the old Lebanon of Connecticut. 
It is the spirit of steady habits, quiet ways, even, pastoral 
life. 

To turn back to the period when these lands were first 
in market, we learn that Col. William S. Smith and others, 
resolved to locate some of the portions of the Chenango 
Twenty Towns. At this period, (1791,) Joshua Smith, a 
native of Franklin, New London County, Conn., a friend, 
but not a relative of William S. Smith,* set out upon a 
journey for the purpose of locating in the wilds of Central 
New York. William S. Smith commissioned him to select 
a tract of the best lands of the Twenty Townships, and ac- 
quaint him with the situation, that he might make imme- 
diate purchase of the authorities at Albany. Joshua Smith 
set out, traversing the journey on horse-back, and reached 
the Chenango Valley, probably before any other white set- 
tler had arrived. He stopped at what was afterwards called 
Smith's Valley, and upon a plateau of table-land, elevated 

* Joshua Smith wis an officer under Col. Wm. S. Smith, in the Revolution. 



LEBANON. 



545 



about twenty feet above the river, he built his cabin. 
Around this elevation the river circled in the form of an 
ox-bow. Across this bow, or cape, he felled trees, forming 
a pen where he could turn his horse. Having need of a 
harness, he constructed one of moose-wood bark, and made 
chains of the same material, to haul logs with. In this 
manner he prepared a domicil which he might inhabit 
another year, and returned east. The information he com- 
municated to William S. Smith, concerning the lands of the 
Twenty Townships, was immediately acted upon by that in- 
dividual, and his application for a large tract is recorded as 
follows, in N. Y. S. Doc. Hist, vol HI., p. 1073. 

" The application of Col. William S. Smith, for the purchase 
of townships No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9, being six of the twenty 
townships surveyed by the surveyor-general, pursuant to an act 
passed the 25th day of February, 1789, at the rate of three shil- 
lings and three p^ nee per acre ; one-sixth of the purchase money 
to be paid on the first of October next, half of the residue on 
the first of January, 1792, and the residue on the first of Janu- 
ary, 1793, being read and duly considered. 

(Accepted.) Acres 150,000 = ;^24,375." 

William S. Smith received the patent for these townships 
from the government of New York State, April 16, 1794. 

Subsequently, the agent of Sir William Pultney entered 
into an arrangement with the State and William S. Smith, 
whereby Sir William Pultney became proprietor of Town- 
ships No. 2, 3, 4 and 5, Mr. Smith reserving a large tract 
bordering the Chenango River, which, with Nos. 8 and 9 — 
Smyrna and Sherburne — of Chenango County, still left 
him a large landholder, and the possessor of the best lands 
in the tract. 

Col. Wilham S. Smith sent on his brother, Justus B. 
Smith, as agent, who built him a house at Smith's Valley, 
and made the sale of the lands, his business. William S. 
Smith resided here at irregular periods, his house .being a 
small frame one, near the mansion of Justus B. Nine 
brothers and sisters of the Smith family are remembered as 
having been residents of Smith's Valley, at one time and 
12 



546 MADISON COUNTY. 

another. These were, WiUiam S., Justus B., John and 
James, and five sisters. They were born and bred in Long 
Island, well educated people, used to wealth, and loved 
luxury. They were heirs to a princely estate from the 
Thorn Family, of England. One of the sisters, Ann, mar- 
ried Mr. Masters, and lived in Smith's Valley. Her farm 
was the best in Lebanon. This is now the farm of J. D. 
F. Smith. The brothers were all Revolutionary soldiers, 
held commissions, and bore an honorable reputation for 
bravery. 

William S. Smith was aid to Baron Steuben, and for mer- 
itorious conduct was commissioned Colonel. He married 
Abigail Adams, only daughter of John Adams, second Pres- 
ident of the United States. During Mr. Adams' adminis- 
tration, Wm. S. Smith was appointed Minister to England. 
Subsequently, at the period of Aaron Burr's conspiracy, he 
was connected with Miranda's secret expedition, which the 
government looked upon with suspicion, as combined with 
Burr's treasonable operations. As the result of Miranda's 
expedition foreboded peril to the adventurers, Col. Smith 
placed all his landed' estates in this and Chenango County 
in the hands of Justus B. The expedition, however, 
brought about no definite results or penalties. Col. Smith 
returned to Smith's Valley and lived for a season. He was 
elected to Congress from the 17th District in 1813, and 
having served his term was re-elected in 181 5. 

William S. Smith had three children. Baron Steuben, John 
Adams and Caroline. They are all dead. John Adams 
Smith became a lawyer, commencing in the law office ■ 
of Judge Hubbard, of Hamilton. Caroline became Mrs. 
DeWitt ; she was lost in the disaster of the Henry Clay, in 
our Northern waters. Mrs. Abigail Smith was a noble wo- 
man, and her daughter Caroline, like her, was lovely in per- 
son, mind and heart. To his latest days, the Colonel is re- 
membered as high spirited and very proud, though his for- 
tunes had become sadly reduced. 



LEBANON. ^47 

Justus B. Smith built his house at what was called the 
"lower Ian ling," where the ndians launched their larger 
canoes, it being the highest point on the Chenango where 
the depth of water admitted their navigation. They some- 
times paddled lighter crafts to the " upper landing," a short 
distance north, and kept the Chenango river free from ob- 
structions to the Susquehanna. They had campino- 
grounds all along the river. Justus B. Smith made friends 
with the Indians, who thereafter made a practice to stop a 
night or more at "Father Smith's Castle," on every journev 
they made to and from the Susquehanna. Justus B. was a 
man of uncommonly fine proportions and handsome fea- 
tures ; a jovial bachelor, possessing a convivial nature, who 
dispensed hospitalities to his guests with a princely hand, 
and many a night the dusky natives, men and maids, held 
high " wassail " with their white host. The Smith farm is 
now the farm of Whipple Clark, and the old Smith mansion 
is still in being, not far from the residence of Mr. Clark. 

Col. William S. and Justus B. Smith both died in Smith's 
Valley in 1816. Both were buried in the old grave-yard, 
on what was known as Lines' Hill, on the road between 
Smyrna and Sherburne. 

Joshua Smith's first location was about 100 rods south of 
the corner at Smith's Valley, nearly due west, across the 
river, opposite the depot. His shanty was the first one 
built between Guthrie's and Cazenovia. The place is now 
owned by Mr. Barr. Joshua Smith, after living here some 
years, married a sister of Judge Payne. He was from the 
same race of Smiths from which have sprung several emi- 
nent authors, among whom is Roswell C. Smith, author of 
Smith's Geography, the latter being a near relative of 
Joshua. Jabin Armstrong of Lebanon, one of the first na- 
tive born citizens of the town, was born at the Joshua Smith 
place, his father being one of the early settlers, and his 
mother being a sister of Mr. Smith. 

Again we go back to 1792, the autumn of the year when 



548 



MADISON COUNTY. 



Enoch Stowell, of New Hampshire, and Jonathan Bates, of 
Vermont, with John and James SaHsbury, of the latter 
place, entered this town. Enoch Stowell and Jonathan 
Bates selected what proved to be Lot No. 7, as the location 
of their future settlement, while the Salisbury brothers set- 
tled on an adjoining lot, but which was in the town of Ea- 
ton. Well knowing that they were to leave the confines of 
civihzation considerably in the rear, they accordingly 
brought with them a supply of beans and flour, and drove 
an ox which they and their comrades, on arriving at their 
destination, killed and preserved for future use. They 
erected a bark shanty, in which they lodged ; and with this 
simple fare these hardy young men chopped the timber on 
twenty acres of land before the winter came on. The cold 
storms of that season approaching, disclosed to them the 
discomfort of their slender tenement, and warned them of 
its incapacity to protect them. Therefore the party re- 
paired to Bainbridge to spend the season among friends, 
who were also settlers there from Vermont. 

Mr. Bates only returned in the spring of 1793, bringing 
with him his family, and commenced alone upon the clear- 
ing. 

Mrs. Bates was the first white woman in the town of 
Lebanon. Jonathan Bates was a patriot in the Revolution- 
ary war. He possessed some of the characteristics of his 
commander, Ethan Allen, with whom he went into Ticon- 
deroga. The hardy quahties needed for the fatigues of the 
march, the fierce and determined spirit required for such 
deeds of daring as Ethan Allen and his men performed, 
served Mr. Bates well in the rough work of the pioneer. 
Many of the oldest citizens remember his resolute, bluft" 
and unpolished manner, which, however, we doubt not, cov- 
ered a heart of real worth. The following story is frequently 
related of him : Some time elapsed after Mr. Bates had paid for 
his farm, and Justus B. Smith had not yet given him a deed. 
The delay was owing to Smith's neglect. Bates' stock of 



LEBANON, 



549 



patience became exhausted at length, and loading his rifle, 
he proceeded to Smith's house. On entering Smith's pres- 
ence, with cool audacity Bates stood his rifle near him, 
folded his arms across his broad chest, his great muscular 
frame erect, facing Smith, and demanded a deed forthwith. 
Smith replied that he would make one but the following day 
and bring it to him. " Smith," said Bates, with meaning in 
his tone, reaching for his rifle, " Do you make that deed to- 
day, or you are a dead man !" It is needless to state that 
the deed was drawn up, then and there, as speedily as Smith 
could transfer it to paper, and no offence was taken either, 
since carelessness was the only excuse Smith had to offer. 

On the farm they had cleared up, Mr. and Mrs. Bates 
spent the rest of their lives, dying within five days of each 
other. On the east side of the river road, opposite the 
farm dwellings, is the family burial ground. On the mar- 
ble slabs yet remaining, we read : " In memory of Jonathan 
Baits, who died 20. April, 1827, aged 72 years." "In memory 
of Elizabeth Baits, wife of Jonathan Baits, who died 25. April, 
1828, aged ^y years." Jay Bates, an infant grandson, lies 
at their feet. Near by is "Henry Bates, who died 14 Au- 
gust, 1 83 1, aged 39 years." 

In due season, after Mr. Bates' family had got settled, 
Enoch Stowell came on to clear up his farm which he had 
located in 1792, He built his first log house near a cold 
spring which is now easily found near Mr. Stowell's garden 
wall. He subsequently married Miss Cynthia Church, 
who came with the pioneer Morses. His second house — a 
frame one — stood where, fifty-three years ago, he built 
his stone mansion. 

There is an anecdote related, illustrative of Mr. Stowell's 
experience in pioneering. Being greatly in need of an ax, 
he went to Hamilton where a blacksmith by the name of 
Cole was just starting a forge, on the very ground where 
the Park House now stands. Mr. Cole, according to agree- 
ment, furnished the desired implement in due season, re- 



550 



MADISON COUNTY. 



ceiving a good sum therefor. But the ax didn't work well ; 
grind it ever so carefully, it wouldn't hold an edge, and from 
dire necessity, Mr. Stowell was obliged to carry it back to 
have it tempered anew. 

Mr. Cole took the condemned ax in his hands, looked 
it over, ejected a monstrous mouthful of tobacco juice, and 
said very quietly : " No wonder the ax don't hold an edge ; 
it's made of iron !" then added : " I'll take it back and make 
you a good one." He then told Mr. Stowell that when he 
made the iron ax he had no steel to make a better one, but 
with the money he received for that, he had been to Utica 
and purchased sufficient steel to make a large number of 
good ones. 

Stephen Stowell, now living in Georgetown, was the first 
of his family born on the farm. The father of Enoch Sto- 
well came to this county. He was formerly a preacher, and 
in the Revolutionary war was a Captain. He died in New 
Woodstock, Madison County, at the house of one of his 
sons, at the advanced age of ninety-two. Enoch Stowell 
also lived to be ninety-two years old, dying June 3, 1859, 
at the family mansion. His son, Horace Stowell, succeeded 
to the homestead. 

Samuel Felt settled on the west side of the Chenango 
river in the vicinity of Earlville, in the spring of 1794. He 
had been in the year before, selected his land and built a 
cabin. His brother, David Felt, came also in 1794. 
They were from Summerstown, Tolland County, Connect- 
icut. David Felt located his first domicil north of the 
brick house built by William Felt a few years since. Sam- 
uel Felt had his place where Whitman Clark now lives. 
The barn he built is yet standing, moved across the road. 
Their land cost three dollars per acre. The location is 
superb. 

During the first year of their settlement, they experienced 
great privations, particularly during the winter months. 
They were obliged to go to Whitestown, by marked 



LEBANON. ccj 

trees, to mill, but when the path was blocked by winter 
snows, the journey was made with difficulty in the best of 
weather, at other tmies made imposssible by the storms. 
As a consequence, necessity suggested many inventions. 
Boiled wheat and hulled corn were common articles of food, 
and when tired of this monotonous diet, Samuel Felt in- 
vented a novel method of obtaining meal. He sawed a sec- 
tion from a tough elm log, bored one end full of auger holes 
to the required depth, having no other tools serviceable for 
the work. From the fire-place he took live coals, dropping 
them into the augur holes, and succeeded by fanning and 
blowing, in burning out the inside of the log, which made a 
fair wooden mortar. From a tough limb of the same tree 
he made a huge wooden pestle. With this improvised mill 
the neighborhood was furnished with meal, samp and wheat 
flour, which was then a luxury. The old mortar and pestle 
saved many a perilous journey, and was of service even after 
mills had been built, in pounding rock salt, the only kind of 
salt in use for years. 

There was a large family of the Felts. The sons of Sam- 
uel were Jehiel, Samuel, Elam, John, Jabin, Sylvester and 
David. For a time these men were all settled about here, 
but later they became scattered. Elam was a strong pillar 
of the Methodist Church, and his name is prominent in the 
history of that church in Earlville, Irom its early beginnings 
till his death. His home was the home of the ministers, 
and of his wealth he gave abundantly for the prosperity ot 
the cause. 

David Felt had a large family. His son Horace, was the first 
one of this family born in Lebanon. His birth was August 
1 8th, 1795. Asa Felt who was seven years old when his 
father moved, yet lives in Earlville ; he is in his eighty- 
sixth year, and is probably the oldest pioneer of Lebanon 
living. 

William Felt, a grandson of one of the pioneers, was one 
of the prominent business men of Earlville. He accumu- 



552 



MADISON COUNTY. 



lated a large property, chiefly in cattle dealing and dro\^er- 
ino-. He was a man of great judgment and tact in business, 
and was at the same time generous and public spirited. 
He built the present grist mill, about thirty-five years ago, 
and about twelve years ago built the Brick Block, the finest 
building in Earlville. His late residence, a fine brick house 
on the west of the river, is pointed out as the earthly home 
of one whom all Earlville remember with respect. On his 
death, having no children, he bequeathed $75,000 of his es- 
tate to tl.e town of Lebanon for her poor. Through the 
liiigation of contesting parties, only about $5,000 was re- 
ceived. 

From 1794, onward, the tide of emigration setting toward 
the "Chenango Twenty Towns," poured in. No. 5 had 
been surveyed, and Robert Troup, agent for Pultney, 
was selling out the hill lands, while Justice Smith had little 
difficulty in selling the valley. The interminable forest, 
which had waved like a vast sea over the valleys and hills 
of Lebanon, became dotted here and there, for miles apart, 
with clearings. The spirit of aggression, of the war of civ- 
ilization with untamed nature, manifested itself in those 
veteran pioneers, who should no more be forgotten in our 
country's history, than should the names of those veteran 
soldiers in another and different war, who battled for our 
rights and our homes also, be consigned to oblivion. Both 
deserve far more than can be given in meagre records. 

The list we have obtained, gives us, on the river road, be- 
sides those already mentioned, Malachiah Hatch, Dea. 
King, Dea. Tinney, David Shapley, Benjamin Hatch, Mr. 
Crocker, the Wheelers and many others. The fine old 
family mansions along the whole length of the river road to 
Earlville, attest to the thrift and progressive spirit of the 
pioneers. 

For a time the Smiths planned for a village at their place. 
The fine table land on the Masters farm now owned by J. 
D. F. Smith, was the location chosen. The village plot 



LEBANON. 553 

was already marked out, and the stakes stuck, when Judge 
Elisha Payne came down from Hamilton to disarrange the 
matter. He had decided that the village of the Chenango 
Vallev should be at Payne's settlement. Between Justus 
B. Sniith and Judge Payne there came near being a battle 
fiercer than words, in which Smith lost his self-command 
and muscular force took possession. Although in the quar- 
rel Smith might have got the better of Payne, yet in the 
long run Payne got the better of his opponent, for the vil- 
lage of Payne's Settlement was certainly built, and the 
streets of the proposed village at Smith's Valley were never 
opened. At a late day, some of the charred bottoms of the 
stakes then stuck, were found on Smith's village site. 

The first necessities of the times were grist mills and 
saw mills. The grist mill built by the Wheelers was the first 
in town, its location being on the site of Mr. Armstrong's 
mill, near the feeder, in the east part of the town. [This 
mill is mentioned more fully in the chapter of Hamilton.] 

Daniel and Elisha Wheeler were enterprising men, as 
their first works in Lebanon show. They were carpenters 
and mechanics, the best the new country produced, and 
were engaged in every large enterprise of the first twenty- 
five years. 

The first house which Daniel Wheeler built, on moving 
into Lebanon, was a log tenement, which, like those of all 
the pioneers, for a time boasted of only the opening for a 
door and windows, which were protected by blankets and 
sheets. However, immediately after the erection of a saw 
mill, a door was made, and though not finely carved or pan- 
eled, it was nice and strong, and for a number of years its 
friendly latch-string hung out. All the settlers then used 
sliding boards for windows. 

Mrs. Wheeler's milk pantry in this house consisted of 
some fine stone shelves, whose surfaces were as smooth as a 
bottle, and which proved to be most excellent coolers for 
milk in the hot days of summer. 



554 



MADISON COUNTY. 



About 1800, Mr. Wheeler erected a plank building for a 
wagon shop. After it was finished, Mrs. Wheeler entered 
it one day to view its fine proportions, when she remarked 
to her husband that she should be glad to change houses with 
him. To this he readily agreed, and so the log house was 
used for a wagon shop, and the plank one for a dwelling. 
This house is yet standing and occupied, near the mill now 
owned by Mr. Armstrong. 

The shocking accident causing Daniel Wheeler's death, 
which, though occurring in Earlville, may be appropriately 
mentioned here, as his life previously had so identified him 
with the inhabitants of this section, that he had become, as 
it were, a part of their fraternity. 

He had sold his mill property here and purchased one at 
Earlville, and though at work in his newly acquired proper- 
ty there, he had not yet removed his family thither. It was 
in the month of December, and a severe cold night had 
frozen the water in the mill wheel. Entering the wheel-pit 
in the morning, Mr. Wheeler proceeded to cut away the ice, 
which proved to be not so firm as he had supposed. The 
moment the ice yielded, the water rushed in (the gate be- 
ing up,) and set the wheel revolving before he could extri- 
cate himself, when he was thrown round and round the 
wheel. A man above as quickly as possible closed the gate, 
and hastening below, found Mr. Wheeler standing, clinging 
with one arm to a post. In his excitement the man caught 
him in his arms and ran up the ladder as swiftly as he 
would had he only been bearing a child in his arms. The 
suffering man was still alive, his body seriously bruised, his 
ribs broken, and one arm literally crushed in fragments. 
His wife was sent for, and eminent physicians immediately 
brought, one from New Hartford, (his name is forgotte \) 
who amputated his arm. The utmost efforts were put forth 
to save his life, which, however, availed nothing, and after 
a week of suffering, he died on Christmas morning, 1806. 
His remains were carried to his house in Lebanon, where 



LEBANON. 



555 



the funeral was held, and he was buried in the grave vard 
near by. Thus perished, at the age of thirty-five, one of the 
best of husbands and kindest of fathers — one of the most 
worthy and useful men of the country. His loss was 
deeply deplored by the whole community. The grave yard 
where his remains lie, was once a portion of his own farm, 
having been donated by him and Mr. Shapley to the public 
for a burial ground. It is a pleasant spot, and is sacred to 
the memory of many of the pioneer settlers of Hamilton and 
Lebanon. 

The first store of Lebanon was kept by Joshua Smith in 
the basement of a house built by himself at Smith's Valley. 
Afterwards Clark, Dorrance & Smith kept the store and a 
tavern together in the same place. 

Jonathan Thayer settled at Lebanon village and set up 
potash manufacturing ; he afterwards went into the battery 
business, and then opened trade. He also built the first 
store of Lebanon and was in fact the first who established 
the mercantile business in Lebanon. His store yet stands 
in Lebanon village, being the present postoffice. 

The travel directed toward the routes of the various State 
roads which were opened at an early day, demanded the es- 
tablishment of inns. This demand in Lebanon was first 
supplied by Philip Kibble, who kept for years what was 
known far and near as the " Old Kibble Tavern," north of 
Earlville, on the road between there and Smith's Valley. 
After the first opening settlement, there followed a few years 
of arduous struggles in subduing the wilderness — struggles 
in which the forester laid away in his brain material for 
many a tall yarn to be spun out of evenings at the tavern 
of " Old Jolly Kibble," as he was familiarly called. INIr. B. 
B. Wilcox owns the place upon which the Kibble House 
stood, and some two years since lived in it. He then built 
a new house and removed the old tavern. 

The second hotel was built at Smith's Valley and a])Out 
forty years ago was burned. The present one is built upon 
the site. 



556 MADISON COUNTY. 

Many of the pioneers located on the tops of the highest 
hills, thereby securing a pure atmosphere, and avoiding the 
noxious miasmas of heavily-wooded, damp valleys. As the 
forest gradually receded from these oases, many planted by 
their humble doors the lofty-growing poplar, which, in the 
course of a decade or so of years, became magnificent trees, 
rendering the home of the farmer comely and conspicuous. 

Capt. Gaylord Stevens settled in the northwestern part 
of the town and took up considerable land. In that day 
the farmers were obliged to let their cattle roam at large 
in the woods, having no pastures or fences, and the flock 
were allowed to take their choice between the green leaves 
and weeds of the woods, or the moist but coarse grasses of 
the swamps. The leader of the flock always wore the bell 
to warn the herdsman, as he sought them at night, of their 
whereabouts. Often in the spring of the year, when the 
swamps were full, has the settler found a cow missing, per- 
haps his best, when he gathered them at the close of day, 
and on search being made has found her mired in the yield- 
ing morass, exhausted, or perhaps dead from over exertion 
trying to extricate herself, or drowned by sinking into the 
water. Near Capt. Stevens' farm was a large marsh, con- 
taining a body of water, small in circumference, but very 
deep. " Cranberry Marsh " it was named, from the abund- 
ance of cranberries growing there, and among whose de- 
ceitful morasses many accidents to stock have occurred. 
For rods from the water's edge the turf of this marsh lies 
loosely, like an apron, over fathoms of water beneath, and 
when once mired, and the turf broken through, the poor 
creature had little chance for its life. Losses of this nature 
were often suffered, and were grievously felt by those living 
where there were no cattle to be purchased to replenish 
their herds. 

Roads were then what would now scarcely be called by 
the name. They crossed over the highest hill tops to in- 
sure the dryest route, and in every hollow was a swamp or 



LEBANON. 



557 



mire, which was bridged by logs transversely laid in the 
track, so that between the tedious hills and those jolting 
causeways, a journey of a dozen miles was a laborious af- 
fair. As the forest was cleared away and the sunlio-ht let 
in, these quagmires dried up, and with them many a rush- 
ing rivulet which made music by the settler's door, and 
supplied his house with pure, soft water. Only the beds 
which marked the course of some of these streams are now 
to be seen, while many more have been completely erased 
by the progress of cultivation. 

Wild animals were exceedingly bold. An instance is re- 
lated of a bear attacking a calf in the day time, close by the 
house of Elihu Bosworth, Mrs. Bosworth was alone with 
her young children, when she heard the distressed bleating 
of the calf. Going to the door to ascertain the cause, she 
beheld it dying, terribly mangled and torn by a huge bear 
which she saw in full view of her door. 

Wolves were often troublesome. As late as 1815, in the 
month of February, an exciting wolf hunt took place in the 
eastern part of this town. The circumstances are related 
as follows : — 

A hunter had started up a large wolf in the vicinity of 
Leland's Pond, in Eaton, but failing to kill him, he notified 
the inhabitants along the route the wolf had taken. The 
men of Hamilton and eastern Lebanon turned out en masse 
to assist in the capture of this formidable enemy to their 
flocks. They were formed into a company, and sta- 
tioned at proper distances along the route. He came 
along the stream from Leland's Pond into Hamilton, and 
then struck off over the hill, in a southwesterly direction 
into the edge of Lebanon. An outpost of men were pre- 
pared to cut off his passage, while a party pressed hard in 
the rear. Being driven by the hunters to the limits of this, 
the wolf made a bold push and pressed some of the sentinels, 
who closed in with the pursuers, but yet who did not get 
near enough to make a good shot at him in his desperate 



;58 



MADISON COUNTY. 



leaps. He was making bold moves for liberty, though 
nearly tired out ; the outposts were all passed but one, 
which was guarded by two men, who happened to be armed 
only with clubs. The underbrush was thick, the snow 
breast deep, but the intense excitement at this point made 
the chase a stirring one. The wolf strove to redouble his 
failing speed, but in his blind haste in passing this last out- 
post he rushed between two saplings not a foot apart, which 
caught and held him, though from which he, no doubt, 
soon would have released hmiself, had not the two un- 
armed sentinels dispatched him. One of them (Jeremiah 
Lillibridge by name,) caught him by the tail and held him 
from escaping, while his comrade beat the head of the im- 
prisoned brute till life was extinct. 

It is remarkable with what facility and rapidity the land 
in Lebanon was settled. We have before us a map drawn 
by Silas Seymour, surveyor, in i8 15, which locates the lots, 
and every farmer then living on them. The following 
names will be recognized as being a large percentage of the 
inhabitants of that period : 

In the northeast quarter, in the east part, were Benjamin 
Church, Jonathan Bates, Enoch Stowell, John Groves, Da- 
vid Shapley, Jabin Armstrong, Benjamin Hatch, Amos 
Crocker, Samuel Sherrill, John Powell, Jacob Hartshorn, 
Henry Palmer ; the Campbells on Lot 26 ; Jeremiah, John 
and Jonathan Tift, large landholders near the center of the 
quarter ; Ann Masters, owning a farm of 265 acres on Lots 
31 and 50; David Hartshorn, Amos Kingsley and Walter 
Allen on Lot 49 ; Elisha Wheeler on Lot 32, and Daniel 
Briggs on Lot 48. The Eddys near the south line of the 
quarter, and A. Mosely near the west line, besides Wm. 
Smith on the Smith estate. 

In the northwest quarter, Curtis Hoppin and Joseph 
Tayntor were located on the northwest corner Lot, being No. 
I. M. Merritt, N. Crary, on Lot. No. 2. There were Lent, 
Joel, John and William Bradley in different sections. On the 



LEBANON, 559 

road leading from Eaton to Lebanon village, lived, besides 
Mr. Hoppin, G. Morey, E. G. Grosvenor, Richard Taylor, 
Aaron Gates, Marrs Blair, Abram Webster and A. Norton, 
There were Josiah Lasell, Peter Wylie, Moses Wylie, the 
farm of Samuel Lewis and that of Silas Seymour, which was 
on the east line of this quarter and west of the Campbell 
settlement. Northwest of the center of the town was Ezra 
Gates, Ira Lamb, Thomas Jerrels, E. Sabins ; also Brown 
Blair, John Blair and C. C. Huston. In the northwest part 
of the quarter was Elihu Bosworth, Timothy W. Lull, Mat- 
thias Cazier, Gaylord Stevens and John Fisk. On the road 
leading in from Georgetown, — Samuel Stetson, Benjamin 
Hewes, Julius Hitchcock, V. B. Gilbert, John Blair and Is- 
rael Thayer. 

In the southwest quarter were the Benedicts, near the 
center of the town. In the north tier of lots in this quarter 
were Ephriam Gray, Orsamus Gilbert, Jonathan Thayer, 
Constant Merrick, Dane Ballard, William Taggart and 
others. In various parts were Joseph Patridge, Sheldon 
Swan, Gilead Knapp, Samuel Ballard, Sanford Head, 
Asahel Sexton, Giles Collins, Jabez Billings, John Sheldon, 
Gaius Stebbins, Jonn Stone, Joseph Mack and Thomas 
Ward. In the south border of the quarter and of the town, 
were Joseph and Reuben Bisby, Jesse Leonard, Comfort 
Johnson, Eleazur Fellows, Oran Seward and others. Niles 
Settlement, included a large tract on the west border of this 
quarter, being also the west border of the town. 

In the southeast quarter on the east side of the river, 
near Earlville, were Robert Cormick, Margaret De St. Vil- 
iers, Belinda Clarkson, Sarah Adams, E. Daniels and others. 
In the southeast corner near Earlville were the Felts ; Ru- 
fus, William and John Henry, Thomas Kershaw, Stephen 
Jones and Daniel Clark. Up the river road to the north 
was John Polish, Christopher Babcock, Harry Waters, Jo- 
seph Clark, John Douglass, J. W. Bulkley, Jas. Sheffield 
and Allen Wood, being here at the last named, the north 



560 MADISON COUNTY. 

line of the quarter. From Earlville on the road north- 
westerly, was the large farm of Thomas Biiell ; there were 
Joel and Oran Stebbins, Solomon Baker, David Baker, 
Hezekiah Willis, the Ostroms and others. In different 
parts were Peleg Wilcox, Zerah Lillibridge, Otis Follett, 
John Persons, and a large farm toward the center of the 
quarter owned by Leverett Rexford. On the old State Road 
were Joseph Card, Palmer Sherman, James Dye, Isaac Wil- 
cox, Abijah Snow, Perry Lillibridge. Thomas Murphy, 
James Muir and Benjamin Willis. 

Some of the settlements were made by large families 
taking up farms adjacent to each other. One of the earliest 
and one of the largest families who thus settled, were the 
Campbells.* They consisted of nine separate households, 
viz : Allen, Daniel, Charles, Archibald, Stuart, John, James, 
Littlejohn and Isaac Campbell. These were not all broth- 
ers, but were, however, kindred. Widow Nancy and Widow 
Patience Campbell were among the emigrants, being moth- 
ers of some of these men, Mrs. Nancy Campbell taught 
the first school of the town, when she was seventy years of 
age. Campbell's Settlement comprised several hundred 
acres of land, situated east of the center line in the north- 
east quarter. Of this numerous family, but few are left ; 
A. B. Campbell and N. M. Campbell, grandsons of Archi- 
bald Campbell, still represent the race in Lebanon. 

The Billings, located south of the center of the town — 
Capt. Truman and Jabez Billings, pioneers, who with John 
Sheldon and Giles Collins, settled Billing's Hill. These 
men made their settlement one of the most active, progress- 
ive and prominent localities of the town. It is related of 
John Sheldon, that when he came to the new country he was 
very poor, and carried all he possessed in a small pack slung 
over his shoulder on his ax helve. He located, and eventu- 
ally cleared and paid for, a noble farm of three hundred 
acres, and became a useful and an influential citizen. 

*Native place of some of the Campbells, was Sterling, Conn. 



LEBANON. 561 

Perhaps the largest settlement of one family was that of 
Niles. The pioneer, John Niles, was from Chesterfield, 
Massachusetts. When nineteen years of age, he left his 
parental home, with nothing in his pocket but a York shil- 
ling his father gave him when he started. With this he 
purchased a loaf of bread, which lasted him the entire 
journey of 150 miles, — a journey he performed on foot. 
Doubtless he found many on his way who generously ex- 
tended hospitality to a youth so enterprising. He reached 
the home of Rev. Samuel Kirkland in Clinton, safely, hired 
to him, and there remained till he married. In 1792, he, 
with a few others, went into Madison, and there took up his 
farm, for which he paid twelve shillings per acre. Himself 
and wife, ambitious and hopeful, entered their new home, 
labored hard, and were abundantly prospered. In the 
course of a dozen years Mr. Niles had a good deal of cleared 
land, had built two thirty and forty foot frame barns and a 
sixty foot shed between, to shelter his accumulated stock 
and crops. He had also built a good frame house, "which 
had glass windows, was painted vermillion red, with white 
trimmings," the handsomest house of its day, in that vicini- 
ty, (Bouckville.) Among several children born there, the 
eldest, Luther C. Niles, born July 2, 1795, is now living in 
Lebanon. 

Mr. Niles sold his farm in Madison* to James Cooledge, 
and next located in Lebanon. He had previously sent for 
his father, mother, brothers and sisters, offering them 
homes in the new country. They came on, and after stay- 
ing a brief time in Madison they joined him in Lebanon. 
The tract he took up was located in the western part of the 
south-west quarter, and it contained 3,000 acres, for which 
he paid three dollars per acre. Upon this tract settled the 
Niles family, and from them it was named Niles' settlement. 
The patriarch was Nahum Niles. His sons were : Nathan, 



* This afterwards became the " banner farm " of Madison County. It is now 
owned by C. Z. Brockett. (See Chapter of Madison.) 
J2 



^^2 MADISON COUNTY, 

John, Isaac, Samuel, Ephraim and Calvin. The Niles were 
farmers of the substantial and progressive sort. The first 
and second generations have gone the way of the earth, and 
but few of the third generation, which was once very nu- 
merous, are to be found in Lebanon. Luther Niles is one 
of three, left of John Niles' family of eighteen children, and 
the only one in this town.* Descendants of other branches 
of this race may be found in various parts of the county. 

Thomas Buell, from New Hampshire, took up a large 
farm in the south east quarter, and settled upon it, locating 
his large family around him. Hiniself and family were 
prominent in public matters and in society. He died here. 
One of his sons Chauncey Buell, and /its son Philander C. 
Buell, have in succession owned the family homestead, and 
both also died here. The farm is now owned by Joseph E. 
Morgan. The Buells, as a family, were distinguished for 
musical talents of the first order. Eli Buell, formerly well 
known in musical circles as a superior vocalist, was grand- 
son of Thomas Buell. 

Sanford Head was born in Rhode Island, in 1788, and 
came with his father, Joseph Head, to the town of Madi- 
son, when but a lad, he being the oldest of a family of six 
sons. In his early youth he commenced teaching, and be- 
fore he was eighteen years of age, had taught several terms, 
in Brookfield, Madison, Lebanon, and Augusta. He mar- 
ried then, and afterwards, at the age of nineteen, located his 
farm of 300 acres in Lebanon, about one mile south of the 
present village. Becoming a citizen of this town, and be- 
ing greatly interested in schools, he exerted his influence to 
promote education. The same spirit was implanted in, and 
characterized his large family, all of whom, sons and daugh- 
ters, except one, we believe, became teachers. School 
offices, for the town of Lebanon, from the least to 

*Luther C. Niles and lady have been married 55 years, and on the fiftieth anni- 
versary celebrated their golden wedding. Mr. Niles is now in his yStb year. Mrs. 
Niles is the oldest daughter of Ephriam Gray, of Lebanon. 



LEBANON. 563 

the greatest, have been committed to the care of Sanford 
Head and his sons. Sanford Head is still living, at the ad- 
vanced age of 84 years, on the homestead he first planted, 
enjoying the benefits of his well-directed labors. 

Ephraim Gray from New Lebanon, Columbia County, N. 
Y., became another of the substantial citizens of this town. 
His son, Cooley C. Gray, resides on the same farm his 
father owned in 181 5. Competent, public spirited men, in 
whom people reposed confidence, have been the Grays, 
father and sons. 

Dr. Constant Merrick, the first physician of Lebanon, 
and one of the large land owners of the early days, was very 
prominent in educational matters. He was also an able 
physician, greatly respected, and " did a world of business." 
His family name is no longer represented in Lebanon. 

Silas Seymour was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1777. In 
1 80 1, then a young man of great energy and enterprise, he 
removed to Lebanon and located in the northwest quarter 
on the west border of Campbell Settlement, taking up a farm 
of about two hundred acres. He became a useful and in- 
fluential citizen, always interested in the prosperity of his 
town. The welfare of common schools largely engaged his 
attention. He remained on his homestead his life through, ^ 
reared a family of ten children, who are all living except 
one, and died at an advanced age. His life was character- 
ized by industry, economy, sobriety and temperance, which 
secured to him their agreeable fruits — competence and a hap- 
py old age. Silas Seymour and his sons were frequently 
chosen to public offices, from the least to the greatest in 
the systemi of town government. 

Daniel Clark, from Colchester, Connecticut, came to 
Lebanon in 1803, and located a large farm in the south east 
quarter, about two miles from Earlville. He took up a 
large piece of wild land, cleared it, and brought into culti- 
vation a fine farm. He was a worthy and useful citizen, 
and reared his family to positions of usefulness. At an 



564 MADISON COUNTY. 

honored old age, he died on the farm where he had so long 
lived, and was buried with many an other fellow-pioneer, 
in Earlville cemetery. The Clark homestead is owned by 
his grandson, F. B. Clark. Squire David Clark, of Earl- 
ville, is son of Daniel Clark, 

Curtis Hoppin was born at Guilford, Connecticut, July 
12, 1785 ; his parents removed to Berkshire County, Mass- 
achusetts, and died leaving him an orphan at an early age. 
It was said of Curtis Hoppin at the time of his death : 

" He inherited a robust constitution and an empty purse ; com- 
menced life with two sheep, one copy of Morse's School Geogra- 
phy, one suit of linsey woolsey, and an energetic, self-reliant dis- 
position. He, during winter evenings and early mornings soon ac- 
quired an education which rendered him competent for a teach- 
er, an avocation which he followed for a few years in Mas-^.a- 
chusetts, and during the winter for several years in Lebanon, 
in the spring of 1810, he started on foot for what was thought 
the far West, in search of cheap lands, and bought on what is 
known by old settlers as Hoppin's Hill, and later in the season 
moved his family to his new home, at the same time driving with 
him his flock of 230 merino sheep, (the first flock of merinos 
ever brought to the country,) which under his judicious care, in- 
creased in a few years to 4,000, making him the largest wool 
grower in Madison County. He served as an officer of the N. 
Y. Militia which was called to Sackett's Harbor in the year 
1814. and served his town as Supervisor, and in other capacities, 
and his county as Member of Assembly in the year 1827, with 
fidelity to the interests intrusted to his care, and with honor to 
himself He was an earnest advocate of what he believed for 
the good of society. He introduced many improvements in ag- 
riculture which were satisfactorily tested upon his large and pro- 
ductive farm, and which became the means of lifting^ bv his ex- 
ample, many of his brother farmers from out the ruts of obso- 
lete and unprofitable customs in which they had been plodding 
for years, owing to a want of knowledge of and communication 
with the world and its improvements." 

Curtis Hoppin died at his residence in Lebanon, Novem- 
ber 8, 1868, in the 84th year of his age. From his obitu- 
ary we learn that " he was an efficient working member of 
the Congregational Church for many years, served as one 
of its deacons, was a sincere christian, a useful and respected 
citizen, a careful business man, a kind and venerated father 
and an affectionate husband." 



LEBANON. 565 

F. B. Hoppin and B. E. Hoppin, his sons, (the last named 
now Uving in Lebanon,) have been members of Assembly, 
the former elected in the year 185 i, and the latter in 1867. 
Henry Palmer came from Windham, Connecticut, at the 
ao-e of 24 years, in 18 17, and purchased a large farm on Lot 
No. 6, on the north line of the town. Upon this, his fath- 
er's family, consisting of parents, five sons, including him- 
self and one daughter, settled in 18 18. The family came 
all the way from Windham to Lebanon, in Madison county, 
with an ox team, in the month of February. Calvin Palmer, 
(his father's name,) and his wife, and some of the children 
died here. Henry and Ephriam still live on the homestead 
farm, which is one of the best in Lebanon. Gurdon Palmer, 
another of the brothers, resides near Morrisville. Henry 
Palmer, before leaving his native country, Windham, was a 
manufacturer of paper, and came to the new country on 
account of ill health. He engaged in school teaching soon 
after arriving in Madison county, in which occupation he 
continued many years, regaining his health, which has con- 
tinued to a hale and active old age. He has been Justice 
of the Peace for some years, and filled many other town 
offices. He was elected Member of Assembly from the 
2d District in 1843. 

Amos Crocker was another early settler of Lebanon. He 
settled the farm now owned by Mrs. Ladd, on the Chenan- 
go River road. He removed to Hamilton afterwards and 
became a merchant. 

Deacon Abram Webster came very early. It is said that 
Mr Webster brought in the first wagon that was ever in 
this town. Noah Webster, of Spelling Book and Dictionary 
fame, was Abram's brother ; his coming here on a visit 
when the country was very new, created no little curiosity 
in the minds of some, and a great deal of respect and ven- 
eration in the minds of those (and they were not a few) who 
took pride and pleasure in fostering education. 

Richard Taylor, from Lebanon, Conn., was one ot the 



566 MADISON COUNTY. 

pioneers of this town. He located where his son Henry 
Taylor now lives. He reared the first nursery of this sec- 
tion of country, from which the old orchards of Lebanon, 
and many of those of adjoining towns, were planted. Rich- 
ard Taylor spent many years of an active life here, and 
died a few years since at an extremely advanced ace. He 
was respected for his neighborly qualities, kind heart, and 
native good sense.* 

All through Lebanon, one fact is noticed ; families who 
were established, many of them, more than sixty years 
ago, are yet represented by their descendants, a great many 
on the original patriarchal homestead. Those substantial 
people, whose history is so interwoven with the history of 
the farms they have brought out of the wilderness, and with 
the annals of the town, whose interests have been identified 
with the concerns of society about them, deserve more than 
a passing notice. There is sufficient learned to show that 
they labored with a will to hew down the wilderness, build 
them homes, and to improve society. 

When the rough corners of pioneer life had become 
rounded, there arose a desire for religious instruction. Peo- 
ple who all their lives before coming here had habitually 
obeyed the summons of the Sabbath bell, began to feel 
yearnings for spiritual sustenance. Accordingly a church 
was formed of the Presbyterian order, and early in this cen- 
tury this society built a house for worship about one mile 
north of the " Centre." This building was afterwards 
moved to the " Hollow," and has since been taken down. 

In 1806 Elder Matthias Cazier came in from Salem, 
Conn., and settled upon land which had been taken up by 
Capt. Stevens, near the north west part of the town. Elder 
Cazier was a regular graduate of the Congregational school, 
and had been the pioneer pastor of Castleton, Vermont, for 

*Richard Taylor was sometimes called to serve as petit-juror, in which capacity 
he was distinguished for his strong common sense. His son, Henry Taylor, was 
drawn in the list of grand-jurors for Lebanon, in 1871, being the first colored man 
in Madison County honored by that position. 



LEBANON. ^^y 

which he received a grant in that State of i6o acres of 
land. Rather enjoying the freedom of the pioneer, and still 
more desiring the religious freedom which a new country 
gave its ministers, lie took up the same labors in Lebanon. 
He preached here about twenty-one years, receiving no 
compensation, as was usually the case with ministers of this 
section at that day. He usually held religious services at 
his own house or at school houses. Elder Cazier held to 
the liberty of expounding his own views in his sermons, 
without reference to the opinions of others, and hence was 
denominated an original character. He closed his labors 
in 1827, and died soon after. 

Simultaneous with the desire for religious improvement, 
there developed a strong tendency in favor of education. 
The first school, as has been related, was taught by widow 
Nancy Campbell. Several were taught in different parts, 
in the houses of pioneers, before school houses were built. 
Elder Matthias Cazier taught in his house in the winter of 
1806-7. Soon, howeve/, in various localities amid the set- 
tlements, were log school houses, largely patronized by 
the increasing population. At one time, the school in 
Campbell's Settlement and that at Webster's Corners, ad- 
joining, had each one hundred pupils per day. At a later 
period, schools and school houses demanded a great deal of 
attention. Among those earnestly engaged in the cause, 
the talented and influential John V/. Bulkley was conspicu- 
ous. The first frame school house of the town was built in 
Smith's Valley, the neighborhood in which Mr Bulkley 
spent his last days. There is a bit of history connected 
with it : Justus B. Smith sold to this district a half acre of 
land, on which to build their school house, for the sum of 
sixty dollars ; he then purchased a fine bell, costing sixty 
dollars, and gave to the district. The bell was famous, for 
there was no other in the country round ; consequently this 
was called Bell District. The day is not forgotten when its 
clear tones could be heard of mornings far and near, bnng- 



568 MADISON COUNTY, 

ing in companies of merry children from tlie remotest area 
to which it belonged. One day, however, it failed to wake 
the echoes of the woodland ; the school hou.-e had caught 
fire and burned to the ground, and the old bell was melted 
in the fervid heat. 

Members of that school in the days long ago, who are 
yet living, speak of John W. Bulkley, who, when aged and 
broken, and infirmities physical and mental had dimmed 
the eye and palsied the hand of this once great man, used 
frequently to visit the school to note the progress of the 
pupils ; his love for children made many a sunny spot in 
his life. They remember him leaning his trembling weight 
upon his staff, tears streaming down his furrowed cheeks 
as he rises to address the school, and they will give the 
closing of his impromptu speech, verbatim, as follows : — " I 
am an old man ; the place that knows me now will soon 
know me no longer. You are children ; you have a lifetime 
before you ; even your small hands can do something 
which will prove a blessing, and for which you shall be re- 
membered. I say to you children, each, plant a tree ; and 
the birds of the heavens will come down and build nests in 
their branches ; and you, and your children, and your 
children's children will come and rest in the shade thereof 
I say children plant a tree." The thoughtless are subdued 
and tears are on the cheeks of the listeners as the aged man 
leaves the school room. It is not so much his words which 
affects them as the impressive voice and manner, the same 
which once distinguished him as the eloquent member of 
the House of Representatives. 

When John W. Bulkley was dead, and his voice was no 
more heard among them, they cherished his familiar utter- 
ances, and in a few years the yard around that school house 
was planted full of trees. 

Lebanon in the past has not been ambitious in the matter 
of villages. Earlville lies mostly east of the Chenango 
River, which is the boundary line between Hamilton and 



LEBANON. 



569 



Lebanon at this place. The south east corner of the town 
is the center of the highway at the grist mill, it being the 
point where four towns and two counties corner. These 
towns are: Smyrna and Sherburne, of Chenango, and 
' Hamilton and Lebanon, of Madison County, At Earlville, 
within the town of Lebanon, is situated the Midland Rail- 
road depot, the grist mill and a few houses. The Syracuse 
and Chenango Valley Railroad has its terminus at the Mid- 
land here. The admirable situation and the railroad facili- 
ties will cause the village to extend in this direction, and a 
few years hence marked changes will be witnessed in the 
Lebanon side of Earlville, 

Thomas Kershaw was one of the early business men of 
this place, living on the Lebanon side. He was an Eng- 
lishman, who brought into the States the first carding ma- 
chine. This, it is said, he smuggled across the ocean, as 
the English Government was determined, at that day, that 
their manufacturing secrets should not benefit America. 
On the river above the present grist mill he built his card- 
ing works, and afterwards built a grist mill and saw mill 
near. He had a family of seven sons and one daughter. 
Himself and sons carried on a large and lively trade in all 
these branches of business. The grist mill was subse- 
quently purchased by Wm. Felt, and by him was rebuilt on 
the present location. 

Lebanon Village is situated west of the center about 
two miles. Dr. Constant Merrick, Jonathan Thayer, Dane 
Bullard, Orsamus Gilbert and Ephraim Gray were the 
01 iginal owners of the land and settlers of the village. Jon- 
athan Thayer was the first postmaster and the first mer- 
chant. He also had a potashery. Israel Thayer was a hat- 
ter, and pursued the trade in Lebanon. The Thayers, as a 
family, were especially adapted to the mercantile business, 
and were the first who successfully established trade in 
Lebanon. Sylvester Thayer, son of Jonathan, was prominent 
as a merchant in Eaton, as well as in Lebanon. He built 



570 



MADISON COUNTY. 



the present store in Lebanon village about 1833. Orsamus 
Gilbert kept the first tavern as early as 1805, and contin- 
ued in the business for many years. The present tavern was 
built by Horace A. Campbell, for a store, in 1831. About 
1834 it was converted into a tavern. When Orrin Thayer, 
the last of his family, {the elder Thayers having died,) re- 
moved west, the trade in Lebanon passed into other hands. 
Hoppin & Lamb were mercantile firms here some years, 
and later Avery & Lamb. The present merchant in the 
Lamb store is L. B. Pike, Esq. 

Lebanon village, nestled in a basin formed at the foot of 
extensive hills, and was called the "Hollow." Its indus- 
tries are a tannery, saw mill, cheese factory, hotel, store and 
postoffice ; there is a blacksmith, wagon maker and gen- 
eral mechanic, boot and shoe maker, tailor, dress maker, 
milliner, and artisans, such as are usual in villages ; the 
Congregational Church, the Union School, and twenty-five 
houses. The Syracuse and Chenango Valley Railroad, 
which passes directly through the place, has here a good 
depot. 

The greatest of Madison County's recent enterprises, is 
her cheese factories, which began to multiply about 1866. 
They are in every dairying district, some towns having as 
many as fifteen factories and creameries. The manufacture 
of butter and cheese by a scientific process, produces re- 
sults sufficiently satisfactory to perpetuate these institutions. 
One of the best the county affords is at Lebanon village, 
which, during the present season, (1872,) manufactures 
18,000 lbs. of milk per day into butter and cheese, while 
from six to eight tons of dairy product, per week, have been 
shipped from this factory during the season. 

From the first settlement of Lebanon, individuals im- 
proved the facilities afforded for mills. Besides the grist 
mills of the Wheelers in the east part of the town, and that 
of Mr. Kershaw, at Earlville, there was a mill built about a 
mile southwest of the center at a very early day, that was 



LEBANON. 571 

re-built of stone about 1857, by J. Paddleford. This is a 
good working mill yet, being owned (1869) by C. Nichols. 
It is better known, however, as the old Paddleford Mill. 

One of the first, if not tlie first cotton factory of Madison 
County, was built on the Chenango River, at Middleport, 
by a company, in 18 14. Sheetings and printed goods were 
made here. Not having machinery for making the first 
quality of cloth, they changed to woolen manufactures, in 
which they were more successful. This was then one of 
the first woolen factories of the county. Pettis & Osgood 
once run this mill, whether with wool or with cotton we are 
not informed. In their hands, however, considerable busi- 
ness was done, eight and ten families being employed. 
When this factory was discontinued, it was for a time used 
as a store house, and later was converted into a saw 
mill. 

Middleport, Smith's Valley and Randallsville are pretty 
much one and the same — Middleport being the old factory 
location, on the east side of the river, and Smith's Valley the 
tavern and the store, west of the river, the latter being the 
location of the present Randallsville postoffice. Many years 
ago, when the country was new, Clark and Dorrance, from 
Hamilton, in company with Joshua Smith, kept a store 
in the basement of the store house now owned by A. Z. 
Kingsley. 

What changes are wrought by the lapse of years ! Aged 
people tell us of days when their cabins in the wilderness 
had no glass windows, and their doors were hung on 
wooden hinges and had wooden latches. There was the fire- 
place furniture, andirons, pot-hooks and trammels, the crane, 
the long-handled frying pan and the baking board. When 
the tin baker was introduced it was regarded as a decided 
improvement. The shelves of the rude kitchen were 
adorned with pewter platters and pewter spoons. The 
birch splint broom stood in the corner. The pioneer's 
meals were hasty pudding and milk, or pudding and maple 



572 MADISON COUNTY. 

molasses ; bean porridge, pumpkin johnny-cake, baked in 
its wrapping of cabbage leaves, in the ashes hot with coals, 
cakes baked on a board before the fire ; "shack fed " pork, 
fish and wild game, and potatoes baked in the ashes. As 
prosperity rewarded their labors, pumpkin pies, doughnuts, 
and bread, both wheat and Indian, baked in brick ovens, 
graced the farmer's board. Dress, was altogether of home 
manufacture, and for colors the old black sheep and the 
blue dye-tub were kept ; witch hazel and butternut bark 
gave variety. Sheep's gray, fine pressed blue, the fine 
check linen, and linen white, were ruling styles of dress. 
The utensils used by the farmers were the old unhandy 
plow with wooden mold board, the brushy limb of a tree 
for a drag, and the willow wicker-work hand fan for v/innow- 
ing grain in the wind. 

Small value was set upon farms, or a high value upon 
official positions, as the following story shows : — Previous 
to 1 82 1, a property qualification was required to enable a 
man to vote. The election of 18 15 was likely to be closely 
contested, and Wm. S. Smith was on the ticket for Member 
of Congress from the 5 th District of this State. Voters 
were not plenty in Lebanon, for but few had yet obtained 
deeds of their land. Justus B. Smith called on a certain 
citizen in his neighborhood and learned that he would vote 
for William S., if he only possessed the required freehold. 
A deed was duly made out by Justus B., signed and placed 
in the man's hands, and William S. Smith received one 
more vote, which, possibly, might have cast the die, for he 
became the fortunate possessor of the seat in Congress. 



Many middle aged men and women may recognize the 
following description of a spelling school of forty years ago. 
Human nature, the same in all circumstances, ages and 
climes, had about the same expression then as it has now. 
The story is related as follows : — 

It was a clear cold winter night, and there was to be a 



LEBANON, cy-j 

spelling school in District. The boys and girls came 

over the crisp snow crust in little companies, the small 
boys brought their sleds and improved every down hill for a 
ride. A big load came from the adjoining settlement. The 
'familiar old school room was lighted with great motherly 
halves of tallow candles, pinned all about on the ceiling with 
jack knives. The dignified master seated in the one splint 
bottom chair of the room, rapped three times on the cross- 
legged table beside him. with his rule. Instantly the 
buzzing of voices began to die away ; it was soon all quiet, 
the floor cleared, and the seats encircling the room were full. 
Presently, "James McComb ! " (we don't give his true 
name, as the reader would know him as well as we, and 
that is our secret,) called the teacher, " take the right side ! " 
Jim, greatly embarrassed came forward, his thick locks of 
light hair falling half over his face, his pants tucked in the 
tops of thick cowhide boots, and with an ungainly move- 
ment took his seat. A feminine voice tittered, and Jim 
heard it. Being seated, he raised his head erect and with 
a large hand pushed back his hair, revealing a finely formed 
forehead and a bright eye, which glanced keenly around ; 
He was master of the situation now, for Jim was a capital 
speller. 

" Mary Cummings, take the left side ! " commanded the 
master. Mary didn't titter this time. With a little toss of 
her head and a sparkle in her black eyes Mary went grace- 
fully across the room. "Girls are never green ; how provok- 
ing!" was Jim's mental remark. 

The two "captains" now proceeded to "choose sides," 
Jim had the first chance, and deciding to be generous he 
called out " Rob Allard !" one of the poorest spellers in 
school. Mary's turn came ; she was embarrassed, but her 
keen tact enabled her to make a wise choice. Betsey Lee, 
a well known scholar, and mistress of" Webster," from among 
the guests, was chosen. They went on choosing sides, Ma- 
V netting the best and Jim the poorest, till all were drawn. 



574 



MADISON COUNTY. 



Then commenced the battle, mild at first, the little children 
o-oing down on easy words, the master now giving a page 
here and a line there among little and big words, till all 
worth mentioning in Webster's " Elementary" had been 
" put out." Jim smiled when Mary stumbled on through her 
rendering of u-n un, i-n in unin, t-e-1 tel unintel, 1-i li unintel- 
li, g-i gi unintelligi, b-i-1 bil unintelligibil, i unintelligibili, t-y 
ty unintelligibility ; and she looked grave when she saw how 
promptly he went through with h-a-u-t ho, b-o-y boy, ho- 
boy, and many other words of equally difficult orthogra- 
phy. During the contest, one by one had fallen out of the 
ranks, Mary with the rest. Good looking Rob Allard was 
one of the first, and as he slid in behind the standing file 
till he came to Olive Leonard and began to whisper to her, it 
came near costing Jim his laurels as he was spelling the word 
Isaiah, for Olive was the very girl Jim was going to ask to 
go home with. The word Deborah fell to the lot of John 
Allen. A whole row of boys and girls who were " spell- 
ed down," looked knowingly at Deborah Barton, whose 
fair face blushed as pink as the ribbons in her hair. John 
forgot what he was about and finished the word with r-y ry. 
They were all down now but Betsey Lee and Jim. The 
two had a pitched battle. The master looked at the can- 
dles burning low ; he brought out the hardest words Web- 
ster had produced, which he pronounced badly. Mary was 
anxious Betsey should win, and undertook to prompt, in 
which she misled her friend, and she too was spelled down, 
leaving Jim conqueror of the field, which fully compensa- 
ted for the fact that Olive Leonard went from the spelling 
school leaning on Rob Allard's arm. 

Those famous spelling schools of which the above is but 
a sample, performed their part of the work in educating the 
men of the past generation. The hero of the above sketch 
subsequently attained to an honored position in business 
and political circles. 



LEBANON. 575 

There has been among Lebanon's citizens, from the first, 
many men of public spirit, who have encouraged progress 
and invited improvements. To essay to enumerate these 
would result in failure, owing to imperfect data ; but some 
names occur so often in statements made of progress, that 
we feel impressed to name them in this connection : The 
Thayers, progressive and prominent men for a long time ; 
Moses Wylie, a popular teacher, a useful and efficient 
town officer, who, it is believed, possessed, at one time, 
greater influence in Lebanon than any other one man ; 
Squire John Sheldon, frequently serving in official posi- 
tions, discharging all duties with marked ability, useful and 
influential ; and William Felt, wealthy and popular, — all of 
whom are now deceased. Some, now living, in their days of 
vigorous prime, served in official public places faithfully 
and advanced the interests of this town. Among these we 
see Squire David Clark, of Earlville, often public officer, 
who was Supervisor, Justice of the Peace, &c.,for the town, 
and Member of Assembly in i860, for the Second District ; 
and Squire Henry Palmer, a frequent town officer, and also 
Member of Assembly. Younger men have now stepped in- 
to the ranks, whose clear practical brains are engineering 
the car of progress, and they are doing their work well. 

Probably not a town in the county presents a smaller 
per centage of pauperism on the poor records, than this, or 
a less per centage on the criminal records. True independ- 
ence and thrift characterizes the homes of this agricultural 
town. 

During the last thirty years, here as in some other towns, 
population has fallen off". This is owing chiefly to its being 
an inland town. Many men of ambition and public spirit 
have been attracted from their homes to engage their tal- 
ents and skill in business marts on the great thoroughfares. 
To the want of facilities for transporting the product- of 
the soil and manufactures, may be attributed the great hin- 
dernnce to enterprise heretofore, and not to any degeneracy 



e^y^ MADISON COUNTY. 

in the soil, want of natural manufacturing facilities, or of 
energy in the inhabitants. 



John W. Bulkley was one of the early distinguished 
men of Madison County. His native place was Colchester, 
Conn. He came into this country about 1797, as a Survey- 
or, and in that capacity was an expert. He was emphatic- 
ally a practical man, and sought to correct many errors that 
had found place in the mind of the plodding settler. He 
desired the elevation of the people and labored for the edu- 
cation of the masses. 

He was a man who immediately gave confidence in his 
abilities, and soon after his settlement here he was made 
Justice of the Peace. In 1801, he was one of the members 
of the Convention for revising the Constitution of this 
State, being, with Stephen Hoxie, delegate from Chenango 
County. In 1808, John W. Bulkley was elected Member of 
Assembly from Madison County, and was returned to that 
office by his constituents, four consecutive terms. In Leg- 
islature his influence was remarkable. It was stated by 
Judge Knowles, of Chittenango, that there was a time 
when it was impossible to get a bill through legislature if 
Squire Bulkley opposed it. 

John W. Bulkley was fond of agricultural pursuits. On 
his farm (known as the " Frank Farm " from being in the 
care of Jerry Frank, a colored man he brought with him 
from the south,) he tested many an agricultural theory. 
Here he originated the famous "Strawberry apple." From a 
tree he grew from the seed on his Earlville farm, and trans- 
planted to this, he produced, by grafting, the above named 
apple. It was called the " Bulkley apple," and then the 
"Chenango Strawberry." 

When Mr. Bulkley closed his last term in the Legislature, 
he carried a bundle of scions from this tree, to Albany, and 
distributed them among his numerous friends. These be- 
ing carried home and used by the members from nearly 



LEBANON. 



577 



every county, the Strawberry apple became prevalent and 
popular, simultaneously, in all sections of New York 
State. 

John W. Bulkley was a man of scholarly attainments. 
He possessed a fine address, and his manner commanded 
attention and respect. He was personally attractive ; every 
movement evinced a sound physical and a marked mental 
organization. 

CHURCHES. 

TJie Baptist Church of Lebanon was formed June 26, 
1 8 16, at a council convened at the barn of Z. Benedict, 
there being then no other building of sufficient capacity to 
hold so large a meeting. The society formed then con- 
sisted of twenty-seven members. Elder Thomas Jeril 
was ordained on that day, and became their first pastor. 
About 1 8 19, the house of worship was built about a mile 
north of the Center. 

TJie Congregational Church of Lebanon. The society 
was formed in 1802, by Rev. Ezra Wood worth. The first 
Deacons were Abram Webster and John C. Wagoner. The 
meeting house was built at the Center in 1802, and was re- 
moved to the village in 1839. 

There is a Universalist Church, also built at an early day, 
which stands near the Center. Meetings are occasionally 
held there. 



K2 



578 MADISON COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XII 



MADISON. 



Boundaries. — Notices of Topography. — Evidences of Indian Oc- 
cupation. — Sir William Pultney's Purchase. — Agents. — Sale 
of Lands to Companies and Settlers. — Names of Pioneers 
and their Places of Location. — Incidents of Primitive Jour- 
neying and of Pioneer Life. — First Improvements. — Pirst 
Taverns, Mills, &c.— " Indian Opening."— First " 4th of July " 
Celebration. — Cherry Valley Turnpike. — Madison Village. — 
Bouckville. — Solsville. — Chenango Canal. — Noted Events of 
Early Days. — Prominent Men. — Churches. 

The town of Madison lies on the east border of the 
County, south of the center. It is bounded north by 
Stockbridge and Augusta, east by Sangerfield and Brook- 
field, south by Hamilton, and west by Eaton. Its princi- 
pal stream is the Oriskany Creek, the source of one of its 
branches, and one of those of the Chenango, being in this 
town. Madison Brook Reservoir, one of the feeders of the 
Chenango Canal, is situated near the south part of the 
town ; it covers an area of 235 acres, is 45 feet deep, and 
has a feeder two miles long. The Chenango Canal passes 
through the town northwest of the center, bearing in a 
northeasterly and southwesterly direction. Nearly the 
entire length of the summit level of this Canal is in the 
town of Madison. The Utica, Clinton & BinghamLon 
Railroad, crosses the same section of the town, and is all 
the way contiguous to the Canal. The soil of the town is a 
gravelly loam in the valleys, and clayey loam upon the hills ; 



MADISON. cyQ 

the deepest and most extensive deppsits of gravel-drift in 
the county, are found in the eastern part of this town, beincr 
near Madison village, one hundred feet deep. The general 
surface of the township is diversified between undulating 
valley and rolling upland. Marl deposits are found in some 
places. Says Guerdon Evans : (Trans. Ag. Soc, p. 762.) 

"The small pond (Little Lake,) in Madison, has filled up with 
marl deposits on one side as much as twenty rods within fifty 
years ; and the beach on the side where the filling up has taken 
place is composed entirely of white marl and shells ; so it is 
said by the inhabitants who have resided here for more than 
fifty years. The reason why the accumulation has occurred, 
appears to be that the pond is sheltered on all sides by a gravel 
bank about 80 feet high, so that as the shells rise to the surface 
they are always floated to the side of the outlet, instead of being 
driven to all sides, as is often the case where the surface is 
exposed to winds from various directions. At the rate that this 
pond has filled up for the last fifty years, it will, in the course of 
two hundred years be quite obliterated, provided the same cause 
continues to operate." 

From the prominent bights of the Stockbridge and 
Eaton range of hills, overlooking the point where the 
Oriskany and Chenango valleys diverge, where the little 
lakes abound, whose outlets are only kept from taking one 
course by the almost imperceptible rise of the summit level, 
is a most beautiful view of the lengthened basin, formed by 
the oppositely extending valleys. From the Eaton bights, 
particularly, the undulating country bordering the Oriskany 
is revealed in its most perfect contour ; it appears to the 
observer to be a broad valley, lying visible to the eye far 
toward the Mohawk, with the range of hills on either side 
sloping towards each other ; but as we follow the course of 
the Oriskany, what had seemed a valley is but a lengthy 
undulating plateau, rising and extending back southward 
from the cour^^e of the creek, forming a goodly portion of 
the fair territory of the town. 

The ancient race of the Oneida Nation, held all this 
territory in the ages past ; the lofty bights of their famous 
"Council Ground" held a commanding view of the pros- 



58o 



MADISON COUNTY. 



pect of valley and hillside, and woodland broken here and 
there by sheeny lakes. Centuries ago, many a path down 
the Stockbridge hillsides came winding around and among 
those nestling lakes, where the red men fished in summer 
for aces. An ancient map shows a path following the 
Oriskany a distance, then diverging in the direction of 
Fort Herkimer, (east of Utica,) which was traversed oc- 
casionally in the early part of the eighteenth century by 
adventurous white men, and which had been for many 
years a frequented path of the "Six Nations." Near Madi- 
son Lake lay an opening in the heavy forest, where, years 
before white men saw it, luxurious Indian corn throve in the 
full sunshine, cultivated by the dusky Oneidas ; here the 
native women gathered it, in the contiguous waters the men 
fished, the half nude children meanwhile rolling upon the 
beach or playing under the shade of the luxurious oaks. 
But in time, having yielded their right to this territory, the 
Indian saw this with other cherished localities pass into 
other hands ; the handsome location, the charming scenery, 
attracted the pioneers, and naturally enough the " Indian 
Opening," as it was called, became the first location for a 
concentrated settlement. 

Madison was originally No. 3, of the "Chenango Twenty 
Townships," and was alsj included in the town of Paris, 
until March 5 th, 1795, when Hamilton was organized ; 
thereafter for twelve years it was embraced in the town of 
Hamilton. February 6th, 1809, Madison was formed from 
Hamilton ; it was named in honor of President Madison. 
It embraced an area of 22,500 acres. The first town 
officers elected, were : — Erastus Cleaveland, Supervisor ; 
Jonathan Pratt, Israel Rice, Ephraim Blodgett, Assessors ; 
Silas Patrick, Constable and Collector ; Joseph Curtis, 
Pound Keeper. At this first meeting it was voted that the 
next town meeting be holden in the Center Meeting House. 
It was accordingly held there in 1808, and the following- 
town officers were chosen for that year : — Erastus Cleave- 



MADISON. 



581 



land, Supervisor ; Jonathan Pratt, Seth Blair, John White, 
Assessors ; Isaac Thompson, Seth Snow, Amos Burton, 
Commissioners of Highways ; Russel Barker, Esq., and 
John T. Burton, Overseers of the Poor ; Daniel Barber, Con- 
stable and Collector. It was voted at this meeting that 
widows be exempt from highway taxes. 

When Gov. George Clinton, in 1788, made the memorable 
purchase of the Chenango-Twenty-Towns, land speculators 
immediately turned their attention to this region. English 
noblemen as well as Dutch Patroons were making extensive 
purchases in different parts of the State. "Sir William 
Pultney,* of the County of Middlesex, in the United King- 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, Baronet," as the old 
deeds particularize, became one of the princely land 
holders of this country about the year 1792, and purchased 
at least three of the Chenango Townships, of which Madi- 
son was one. Robert Troup, his agent and attorney in this, 
country, who took up his residence in the western part of 
the State, opened the lands of Township No. 3, to settlers 
under the immediate direction of his agent, Benjamin 
Walker, who acted in this capacity till his death, about 18 15. 
Upon the death of Sir William Pultney in 1806, his vast 
estates here passed into the hands of " Sir James Pultney, 
of Middlesex County, Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland, and Henrietta Laura, Countess of Bath, the wife of 
Sir James Pultney." Subsequently, and before the Madison 
lands were all sold, they fell to other heirs, named in transfers 
as Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, David Cathcart, 
(commonly called Lord Alloway,) Masterton Ure and Char- 
lotte Johnstone.f On the decease of Benjamin Walker, Rob- 

*A noted English Whig. He purchased a million and a quarter of acres of 
Robert Morris, in the western part of this State. It comprised nearly all of 
Steuben, Yates and Ontario Counties, the east range of townships in Allegany, 
and the principal part of Livingston, Monroe and Wayne Counties. 

f The western estates of Sir William Pultney passed through the Duke of 
Cumberland and Sir John Louther Johnstone, to William, Earl of Craven, who 
with other citizens of Great Britain were owners of that portion lying in Livmg- 
iton County, not sold as late as 1862. 



^§2 MADISON COUNTY. 

ert Troup, having never been in Madison, sent on hand bills 
appointing a public meeting to be held at the hotel of Sam- 
uel Goodwin, Esq., in Madison village. At this meeting 
"he stated to the holders and purchasers of the lands, the 
fact of the liability of its being sold by the heirs of Sir 
William Pultney, who were in debt to the merchants and 
mechanics of the city of London to the amount of two 
million dollars. At this time the most of the settlers still 
held their farms only by contract from Benjamin Walker. 
Robert Troup now offered to take up these old contracts 
and give them new ones in his own name, acknowledging 
all that had been paid and endorsed on the old contracts, 
and would, to the best of his ability, adapt future payments 
to the circumstances of each. The measures carried out 
by Troup were conspicuously honorable in comparison with 
the unjust course pursued in many sections of the State by 
dishonest agents and land speculators, who, taking advan- 
tage of insecure titles or the necessities of the settlers, 
compelled them to pay twice for the farms they had re- 
deemed from the wilderness, and the people of Madison ap- 
preciated the scrupulous fairness and kindness of their 
landlord, who often threw off interest^ sometimes accepted 
half a payment, and in numberless ways evinced a desire 
to give the people a fair start. He visited Madison yearly, 
and the general prosperity steadily increased. 

As early as 1791, prospecting companies came into this 
town. Thomas Dick, James White and Thomas McMullen, 
(or Millen, as it is now written,) from Massachusetts, came 
in that year to "look land." They first reached Paris, and 
made their way Irom there to Township No. 3, by marked 
trees. On arriving they found the continuous forest pre- 
vented a view of the country ; so each selected a tree on 
East Hill and ascended it, from which elevated position 
they were enabled to get a tolerably extensive view of the 
town, then covered with a luxurious growth of fine timber. 
These men (afterwards settlers of the town,) returned east 



MADISON. 



583 



with a good report, which induced others to come out the 
ensuing year. 

In 1792, Solomon Perkins, from Kennebec, Maine, di- 
rected his course to the western lands. When he reached 
the Stockbridge settlement of Indians, he desired them to 
show him land where grain would grow, informing them 
that he had come from a cold country and wished to find 
land where he could raise wheat and corn. They described 
to him the Madison lands, then for sale, and one of the In- 
dians, Capt. Pye, offered to be his guide. He led the way 
by a path through the woods, some fourteen miles, to the 
head, or south side of Madison Lake. Mr. Perkins was 
pleased with the land and its location, and took up five or 
six hundred acres. He built a small house, and returned to 
Maine for his family. Early the next year, with his wife and 
four children, Mr. Perkins came and took up his abode in 
the home he had thus provided. More than three months 
of solitary forest life passed away, without their once look- 
ing upon the face of a white neighbor, when they were 
gladdened by the intelligence (through a native,) that a 
white family had settled in their vicinity. Mrs. Perkins de- 
termined to visit them immediately. She set out, and after 
following a winding path through the dense woods, marked 
by blazed trees, for a distance of more than two miles, she 
reached the family of Jesse Maynard, who had taken up a 
farm on Lot No. 45, about one mile south of Madison vil- 
lage. The two women, though strangers, were happy to 
meet, as may be supposed ; and this first visit made in 
town, after the fashion of New England matrons, by the 
only white women within its boundaries, was recorded in 
the hearts of each as one of the pleasantest of their 
lives. 

The town was divided into quarters, and large tracts 
were sold off at once to companies or individuals, as the 
case might be. 

In 1793, many came to locate. Among these were Wil- 



584 



MADISON COUNTY. 



Ham and David Blair, who located in the northeast corner 
of the southwest quarter. Also, at this period a company- 
was formed in Rhode Island, who sent on their agents, 
chief of whom was Capt. Gilbert Tompkins, to make the 
purchase. They selected the southwest quarter, which 
contained twenty-five lots, and made the purchase of Ben- 
jamin Walker. Two of these lots having been sold to the 
Blairs, the deed, which is recorded in the Chenango County 
Clerk's Office, bearing date March 27, 1797, describes 
only twenty-three lots. As a compensation for the two 
lots, the same quantity of land was set off" to them in the 
southeast quarter, being duly purchased by the company. 
It is said that the members of this company drew lots for 
their shares. This was thereafter denominated the 
"Rhode Island Quarter." Eight families of this company, 
from Little Compton, R. I., consisting of about forty per- 
sons, came on the following year to occupy their lands. The 
names of some of these were : Gideon and Benjamin Sim- 
mons, Samuel Brownell, Samuel Coe, George and Charles 
Peckham, Zarah Simmons, and perhaps his son George. 
Benjamin Simmons located on Lot No. 75 ; Brownell where 
Sidney Putnam now resides ; Zarah Simmons on Lot No. 
22, where Sandford Gardiner now lives, and George Sim- 
mons where Dea. Whitcomb lived for many years. Samuel 
Coe settled near the Center, the Peckhams southwest of the 
Center. 

Capt. Gilbert Tompkins, from Westport, R. I., at the time 
of his coming in 1792, took up Lot 84, which was situated 
on the east side of the reservoir. There he cleared off 
several acres and put up a log house, with the design of 
moving his family the next season, but after returning to 
Rhode Island, inducements of a pecuniary nature kept him 
for fifteen years longer in the coast trade business. Never- 
theless, during those years his influence was exerted in 
helping others to settle here by advancing means, and in 
assisting in making the purchase of homes. Capt. Tomp- 



MADISON. 



585 



kins finally moved his family to Madison in 1808, and be- 
came established on the lot he first took up. He had a 
family of ten children ; one son, Rev. Wm. B. Tompkins, 
became a Congregational minister ; another, Dea. Phillip 
Tompkins, remains on the old homestead. Capt. Gilbert 
Tompkins died at the age of 82. 

A number of farms had been taken in the northeast 
quarter as early as 1793. In 1794, Samuel Clemmons, from 
Massachusetts, purchased largely of this quarter. He settled 
here, built a house and kept entertainment, especially for those 
who came to "look land." Like many another landholder 
in those times, he was a shrewd man in deal and traffic. It 
was remarked (perhaps enviously) that those who came to 
purchase land were treated by him to the best entertain- 
ment the country afforded, at little or no charge, having the 
sale of his own land in view. 

Mr, Thomas Millen, (before mentioned,) from Pelham, 
Mass., who with his family settled in 1795, on one of the 
center lots of the town, was also a large purchaser in the 
northeast quarter. Mr. Millen was one of the earliest sing- 
ing school teachers of the town. He possessed a superb 
voice, and had a large, handsome form. It is said that all 
of his family were of large size and of great physical 
strength. 

Henry Bond and Elijah Blodgett took the northwest 

quarter, purchasing of Benjamin Walker, Many of those 

to whom the firm of Bond & Blodgett sold lands were from 

Stratford, Conn. This firm remained in town but a few 

years, and some of the settlers, among them William and 

James McClenathan, were compelled to pay for their farms 

a second time to the agent, Blodgett is said to have been 

the first surveyor in town ; early surveys, however, were 

made by Gen. Salter, by White, and by Broadhead, those 

of the last named being the standard surveys here, as well 

as in other parts of the county. 

Gen. ErastusCleaveland, in company with a friend,reached 



586 MADISON COUNTY. 

Whitestown early in the summer of 1792 ; from that point 
they directed their course by marked trees to Madison. 
When within a mile of the Center, they found a cabin oc- 
cupied by a family, of whom they asked'refreshmentsand per- 
mission to remain over night ; when the people told them 
they had themselves arrived only the day before, and were 
obliged to go back to Paris immediately, fifteen miles, for 
provisions. The latter, therefore, directed the travelers on 
to the Center, informing them they would find a family 
there who had been in a week. They arrived there — at 
Jesse Maynard's — in time for supper, remained over night, 
and next day returned to Whitestown by way of Augusta. 
The impression Mr. Cleaveland received on this visit in- 
duced him to return to Madison in the spring of 1793. 

Although but twenty-three years of age, his active brain 
planned the course which should bring prosperity to him- 
self and to the inhabitants round about. He purchased a 
farm on the Oriskany Creek, about one mile below Solsville, 
where his first work was to erect a small log house. Being 
a carpenter, he built a saw mill on the creek with but little 
assistance from others, which was running in the summer 
of 1794. During the winter following he was married. A 
romantic incident is related pertaining to this eventful era 
of his life : — At the time of his first coming to Madison in 
1792, he went from here to Whitestown, where he spent 
the summer, employed at the carpenter and joiner trade, 
and in the fall returned to his home in Norwich, Conn. 
As he drew near his native place, he stopped in the adjoin- 
ing town to remain for the night, where, with a young man 
he had formerly known, he attended a singing school. In 
the gay spirits of youth it was agreed between them that 
Cleaveland should select the best looking girl he should see 
there and offer his company home. On arriving at the 
school, his rather critical eye ranged keenly over the 
company of fair young ladies till it rested upon a dark eyed 
brunette, a lady of very superior manner and attractive 



MADISON. 587 

appearance. On an introduction, their acquaintance rapidly 
progressed, and according to pre-arrangement Cleaveland 
accompanied her home. From this beginning of an 
acquaintance with Miss Rebecca Berry, a mutual afifection 
ripened which resulted in their marriage, as before stated. 
Mrs. Cleaveland was a woman every way worthy of highest 
praise, and her husband with pride awarded to her the 
merit of assisting, in a great degree, toward their subse- 
quent prosperity. The uncouth surroundings of his forest 
home, the meagre comforts, the absence of refinements, in 
which he would have gladly placed his wife, weighed upon 
his spirits, which the brave-hearted woman, by her admir- 
able tact, dispelled by one significant act. He was one 
evening wakling along with bowed head, wearied with 
labor, and wearing a despondent air, when he was suddenly 
aroused from his sombre revery by the presence of the 
bright face of his wife. She laid her hand upon his arm and 
said "Look up, Erastus, look up ! never look down again ! " 
The cheerful, resolute voice and face had the desired effect. 
Henceforth, with firm courage and faith in himself and in 
the counsels of his companion, he went earnestly into the 
battle of life and his onward course was one of prosperity. 

During the summer of 1795, Mr. Cleaveland built the 
first grist mill in Madison, so widely and so long known as 
" Cleaveland's Mill," which stood on the site now occupied 
by Wheeler & Tyler's Mill, east of Solsville on the Orisk- 
any Creek. While building this mill he kept his saw mill 
running, and from the tall hemlocks which grew around his 
home, manufactured lumber which sold readily to the set- 
tlers for five dollars per thousand, from which income his 
workmen were paid, as work on the new mill progressed ; 
and at its completion, with a lucrative business awaiting 
him, he was fairly entered upon the direct road to wealth, 
which he won in a few years.* 

Gideon Simmons one of the pioneers of the Rhode 

* See sketch of Erastus Cleaveland under the head of Prominent Men. 



588 MADISON COUNTY. 

Island Company, located in the southwest quarter. He had" 
a family of seven children and lived a long life in Madison, 
dying at the ripe age of 96. 

Benjamin Simmons had his farm a mile or more south ot 
the Center, where his son Benjamin now resides. In jour- 
neying to this section he came by way of Paris Hill, where 
he left his family, consisting of a wife and four children, 
with a friend living there, till he could go to Madison and 
put up a bark covered cabin that would shelter them 
through his summer's work, intending in the fall to build 
more comfortably. During the stay of his family at his 
friend's, one of his children sickened and died. The next 
two days after this sad event he spent in journeying to 
Madison, with an ox team and cart, over the miserable 
route through the woods, and though only fifteen miles, it 
was a journey of sore weariness, sadness and discourage- 
ment. The first season of his residence here he obtained 
his grain at Paris, and the time occupied in getting a grist 
ground and home to his family was three days, employed 
in this wise : — First, he went on foot to Paris and bought 
his grain, then to his friend's for a horse to take it 
to mill, and from there home, so much occupying two days ; 
the third was spent in returning the horse and getting 
back home. By perseverance, the next year found him in 
better circumstances, and in a few years he became a pros- 
perous farmer and an influential citizen. 

George and Charles Peckham, young men who came late 
the same year, {1794,) took up land southwest of the Cen- 
ter. They chopped and cleared a few acres during the 
winter months, and in the spring returned to Rhode Island. 
It is stated that on the day of their departure, the 8th of 
May, 1795, the leaves on the trees in Madison were out in 
full size. The next year they came back, and after a time 
their aged father, George Peckham joined them. Both of 
these brothers married and reared families here. 

Stephen F. Blackstone was one of the pioneers of Caze- 



MADISON. ego 

novia, being one of the company with Mr. Lincklaen. He 
was afterwards induced to settle in Madison, where he at- 
tained a position of influence. He, as well as many others, 
was subjected to the privations incident to pioneer life. 
He built his own log house, and it is said that in the pro- 
cess of its construction, he was necessitated to travel six 
miles, to James McClenathan's, to borrow an augur to bor 
the holes for his wooden hinges, before he could hang a 
door. 

Joseph Head came from Rhode Island in 1796, and took 
up land about half a mile southwest of the Center. He 
was a Quaker, and a worthy citizen. He, also, had a large 
family. One of his sons. Pardon Head, represented this 
district in the Assembly in 1832. Nicanor Brown, from 
Massachusetts, came, probably, as early as 1794, and took 
up land in the north part of the town, but afterwards went 
to the southeast quarter. A daughter of his, Sally Brown, 
was the first white child born in town. James Collister 
came in 1793. 

Seth Snow was one of the first settlers of the northeast 
quarter. The first apple tree set out in the town, Seth 
Snow brought on his back from the Indian orchard in 
Stockbridge ; the same tree was standing in 1869, on Squire 
Samuel White's place. Mr. Snow also built the first brick 
house in town, on the turnpike two miles east of the village. 
Rev. Simeon Snow was a brother of Seth Snow, and was 
one of the first ministers in town. 

Abiel Hatch came in 1795, and settled one mile south- 
east of the village. 

Samuel Rowe came from Farmington, Conn., about 1794, 
and settled on Lot 13, where Dea. Matthew R. Burnham, 
now resides. 

Elijah Thompson came from Charlestown,Mass.,in March, 
1795, He moved to Madison on a sled drawn with oxen, 
bringing his wife and six children. He bought of William 
Blair in the southwest quarter. To procure the necessary 



590 MADISON COUNTY. 

supply of groceries and store goods, Mr. Thompson manufac- 
tured potash and transported it to market. He was a 
Revohitionary soldier, in the Artillery service during six 
years of that eventful period. At the first Fourth of July 
celebration in Madison village in 1808, he was selected to 
take charge of the artillery firing. 

There were three of the Maynard brothers : — Jesse, the 
pioneer of 1792, who resided in town but a few years ; 
Amos, a young man, who afterwards married and settled 
near the Center, on the same lot with Jesse ; and Moses, 
who came some years later with his family, and finally set- 
tled near Bouckville. Amos Maynard was the first Military 
Captain in town, served through the war of 18 12, and rose 
to the rank of Colonel. He is remembered as an officer of 
splendid military bearing and presence. We remark here 
that the sword carried by Capt. Maynard during the war, 
became, and is still, the property of Mr. Orrin Chase, of 
Eaton, who was a Captain of Milita. Moses Maynard, 
distinguished himself in various ofificial capacities, and 
was one of the chief projectors of the Chenango Canal. 

Eliphalet House, with his son Eliphalet, jr., came from 
East Windsor, Conn., to Eaton in 1795. The sickness 
then prevailing in Eaton, caused them to change their loca- 
tion to the " Indian Opening." 

Gideon Lowell came from Maine to Madison, perhaps as 
early as 1796. Israel Rice came from Worcester, Mass., 
in 1795, and bought in the east part of the town, where 
now his son, Francis Rice, resides, — Lot No. 32. James 
and Alexander White came also in 1795, and bought land 
joining Rice on the southwest. John White, a brother of 
James and Alexander, came from near Northampton, Mass., 
in 1796, and purchased a 100 acre lot of Samuel Clemmons, 
for $400, now owned by his son Alexander White. Samuel 
White took a piece of land on the hill, on Lot 3 1. He and 
his wife lived to be upwards of ninety years of age, and 
died within a few weeks of each other. The three brothers. 



MADISON. ^QI 

John, Samuel and Thomas White, moved their families 
from Massachusetts together, in the winter of 1797, using 
sleds and a team of fourteen oxen. On account of a thaw, 
after setting out, they found bare ground some of the way, 
and on reaching the Hudson river at Albany, found the 
water so much raised that they were forced to get boards 
and bridge some twelve feet from the shore to the ice on 
either side of the river, before crossing. The poor sleigh- 
ing and bare ground much of the way for upwards of twenty 
miles westward from Albany, so wore upon the wooden 
shoes of their sleds that they were compelled to stop, un- 
load their goods, and put on new ones. The timber used 
for sled shoes was from the hardest that the forest pro- 
duced, such as oak, hickory and iron-wood. In spite of 
these and other delays, they arrived in Madison the last of 
February. 

Calvin Whitcomb was an early settler. He kept tavern 
a few years south or southwest of the Center. Russel 
Barker, who had a large family, settled in the southeast 
quarter, at what date we have not been able to ascertain. 
Warham Williams, from Brantford, Conn., came at the same 
time with Russell Barker. Paul Hazzard came early, and 
took up land where his two sons, Oliver and Russel, now 
reside, — Lot 55. Mr. Hazzard was a near relative of 
Commodore Oliver Hazzard Perry, of Lake Erie notoriety 
in the war of 18 12. Nathaniel Johnson, from Worcester, 
Mass., came in 1796. Abizar and David Richmond, broth- 
ers, came to Madison in 1795. They were originally 
from Massachusetts, but had lived in Fairfield, Herkim.er 
Co., a few years before coming here. Abizar bought in the 
southeast quarter, where his son Merrick Richmond now 
lives. David purchased in the southwest quarter, where he 
lived till his death, which occurred December 23, 1864. 
He attained the great age of 90 years. The Richmonds 
were fine men and good citizens. 

David Peebles, another worthy citizen, came from Pel- 



592 MADISON COUNTV. 

ham, Mass., to the northeast quarter, quite early. Sylves- 
ter Woodman, from Rhode Island, came early to the so^ith- 
west quarter, and took up the farm where his grandson, 
George B. Woodman, now lives — Lot 77 or 78. William 
Sandford came in 1797, also to the southwest quarter. 
Benjamin Chapman settled in the southeast quarter ; he 
was a respected citizen. 

Many of the settlers of the northwest quarter were from 
Stratford, Conn. The road which was early laid out through 
their settlement, was called Stratford St., in memory of their 
native town, by which name the street is known to this 
day. 

Solomon Root, from the eastern part of this State, settled 
in the northwest quarter in 1806. He was one of Madi- 
son's most influential citizens ; alike respected as a business 
man, a promoter of good morals, a friend of law and order, 
of justice and religion ; he was a christian in the true sense. 
It may be mentioned here, that the Rev. T. Pearn, so long 
known as one of the pioneer Methodist preachers of Ore- 
(Ton, was a son-in-law of Mr. Root. Mr. Root's death took 
place in Madison, Jan. 5, 1859, at the age of 86 years. 

Justus ^oot, a brother of Solomon, arrived in town some 
later than his brother, and settled in the same vicinity, near 
the town line west of Bouckville. His death occured at 
the original homestead, now owned by his son-in-law, Mr. 
F. Tooke, about 1867. 

John Root, a younger brother of the two preceding, 
came into town with or soon after Justus, married here, and 
was settled near his brothers for a few years ; then removed 
to the Genesee country, but returned in a short time to 
Madison. At a late date he was still living in the State of 
Michigan, in the home he had hewn from the wilderness, 
since the frosts of age came upon his temples. Each ot 
these brothers had a large family, yet we learn of but one 
in town now (1870,) bearing the name. Thus (as did their 
fathers before them,) have many of the descendants of the 



MADISON. 



593 



Madison pioneers yielded the parental hearthstone, the old 
time " vine and fig-tree," to the tread of the stranger, and 
gone forth into the world to become in their turn, founders 
of homes and fortunes of their own, great or small ; the 
sites of the dwellings in which they were born — the fruit 
trees, shrubbery and flowers surrounding — the broad fields of 
the farm and the remnant of old woods beyond, all developed 
by the toil of their fathers and mothers, little by little, from 
the primeval forest, into homes that gave them sustenance 
and protection through the intervening years, from the cra- 
dle to adult age — know them no more. It may be that 
these brief, fragmentary annals only will preserve their fam- 
ily names to the future, among the honored who were first 
to plant civilization amid the former wilds of this now fair 
territory, teeming with progress. 

George and Robert McCune came at quite an early date, 
and bought where Sandford Peckham now lives, a half mile 
west of Solsville. Stephen Woodhull, from Stratford, also 
came in early and settled a half mile west of Madison vil- 
lage, where his son, Aaron Woodhull, now resides — Lot 
No. 37. William and James McClenathan were among the 
earlier settlers here. They selected their farms on the hill 
in the northwest quarter, which is to this day called " Mc- 
Clenathan Hill." The opinion was prevalent here, as in 
other localities at an early day, that hill land was the most 
valuable as well as the most healthy, and it is true that 
there was much weak, cold soil here, as elsewhere in the 
lowlands. 

Samuel Collister and Seth Blair arrived in March, 1798. 
Mr. Blair was from Worcester County, Mass. He pur- 
chased in the southeast quarter, where his son Seth, now 
(1869,) resides, a half mile south of the Center, on Lot 
No. 66. Soon after his arrival he built a frame house, 
which still stands, and is a part of the present dwelling. 
Seth Blair, sen., was a Revolutionary soldier, having en- 
tered the service at the age of sixteen. He was a worthy 

L2 



594 



MADISON COUNTY. 



respected citizen, and died in 1852, in the ninety-second 
year of his age. He was the last but one of the Revoki- 
tionary veterans of the town of Madison. 

Judson W. Lewis, from Stratford, Connecticut, came in 
1797, and purchased Lot No. 19, where Leroy Curtis now 
resides. Mr. Lewis' six sons and two daughters came into 
town at or near the same time. Their names were : — 
Silas, Whiting, Charles, William, Isaac, Conway, Betsey 
and Catharine, Charles, however, did not arrive till 1799, 
when he purchased a mile and a half north of Solsville. 
All of these eight childen had families in town, and several 
of the members still reside here. 

Nehemiah Thompson, also from Stratford, arrived in 
1797, and bought Lot 17, (on Stratford Street,) where Ran- 
som Curtis now lives. Robert Curtis, from Stratford, 
bought part of his land of Nehemiah Thompson. Peter 
Tyler came also in or about the year 1797, and purchased 
where Hon. J. W. Lippett now resides, also on Lot 17. Jo- 
seph Curtis, from Stratford, arrived in 1798, and took up a 
farm on the north line of the town on Lot No. 4, where 
George Lewis now lives. Daniel Warren, from Royalston, 
Worcester County, Mass., came soon after 1798, and pur- 
chased a part, or all of Lot No. 4. He soon removed to Au- 
gusta. Samuel and Timothy Curtis, also from Stratford, 
located on Stratford street, we believe, about the last named 
date. 

Joseph Manchester, from Tiverton, R. L, came to Madi-. 
son in 1798,* and bought land in the southwest quarter, — 
Lots 96 and 97. He lived to his eighty-second year. Af- 
ter his decease, his son Gideon, occupied the place for 
many years. At this date (1869), the property is owned 
by his grandson, William T. Manchester, of Hamilton. 

The first year and more of Joseph Manchester's resi- 
dence here, he was obliged to carry his grain to mill at 
New Hartford on his back. On one occasion he took a 

* Think it must be earlier. 



MADISON. egc 

bushel to mill in this manner, and while on his toilsome 
way home bearing his grist through the gloomy forest, a 
heavy thunder shower arose, making the approaching dark- 
ness of night grow blacker, so that it became impossible to 
proceed, and although not more than a mile from home he 
was compelled to remain in the woods till morning. On 
arriving at home, he found that during his absence a fero- 
cious bear had visited his premises, and in spite of the ef- 
forts of his hired man, who, with a hoe as his only weapon, 
had endeavored to drive away the intruder. The beast 
had taken his only one hog from the pen and bore it 
away. 

Job Manchester settled early in the southwest quarter, 
on Lot 57. He was one of the company from Rhode Is- 
land. He spent the remainder of his years on this farm, 
when it passed to his son William, who also spent a useful 
life on the same location, and was succeeded by his son, L. 
B. Manchester. Ichabod Manchester located in town 
some two or three years after Joseph. He lived to be 
nearly eighty years of age. Thomas Dick, one of the 
three who came to "look land" in 1791, arrived in town with 
his family, to settle, in 1797. He purchased Lot 55, one 
mile east of the Center, where the Hazzards now reside. 
He was from Pelham, Massachusetts. 

Gilbert Stebbins, from Wilbraham, Mass., came in 1799, 
and located in the southeast quarter. He was a most 
worthy and influential citizen. His brother Harvey came 
about three years later and took up land where his son, 
DeLonna Stebbins now lives. Lot No. 92. 

Reuben Brigham came into Madison, March 4, 1799, 
and purchased the farm took up by Abner Bellows, situated 
half a mile south of the Augusta line, on the road running 
due north from Solsville to Augusta Center. He was 
born in Sudbury, Middlesex Co., Mass., September 23, 
1769, attended the common school of his native place in his 
youth, and was then sent to and in due time graduated at 



5^6 MADISON COUNTY. 

the oldest college in the United States — Harvard Univer- 
sity, at Cambridge, Mass. From a diary kept by him, now 
three-fourths of a century old, and so dim with age that it 
is in good part illegible, we learn that in 1794 he taught 
school at Newton, Mass. In 1796 he came west, as we 
learn from the same record, and taught school at Saratoga 
Springs. He subsequently came to Madison at the period 
above named, and settled permanently upon the Bellows' 
farm. Here there was but a small clearing when he came 
in possession, but within it was a log house and barn, and 
a young orchard planted. Many of the apple trees of this 
orchard are still standing and in bearing condition. 

The following quaint certificate is found among the 
ancient looking papers left by Mr. Brigham : — 

" Sudbury, Jan'y 8th, 1793. 
Thefe certify that the subfcriber suppofes the Bearer, Reuben 
Brigham, is a perfon of good moral character and thuj tjr 
qualified to teach a School. 

by Jacob Biglow, Minifter of Sadbury." 

Mr. Brigham remained upon his farm during his life time 
and was ordinarily successful as a farmer ; but like other?, 
he had to encounter many hardships and endure serious 
privations during the first few years. In illustration, we 
mention a fact : — When he came here to settle he had a 
wife and one or more children, and brought with him a sin- 
gle ewe sheep, all he could obtain, with which he expected 
to start a flock at once ; but as it proved, the impossibility 
of mating postponed this some years. Meanwhile, home 
manufacture of cloth was the only resource for family cloth- 
ing, and the one fleece yearly went but a little way in Mr. 
Brigham's growing family. At last something had to be 
done to increase the bulk of raw material, and it was done 
in this way : — A yoke of oxen and one cow had been pur- 
chased ; in the spring these animals were carded every 
day and the gathered hair was carefully saved each time 
till all the old coating was accumulated ; this was cleansed, 
incorporated with the one fleece of wool by hand-carding, 



MADISON. 



597 



spun into yarn on the family spinning-wheel, and woven 
into cloth in Mrs. Brigham's old time hand loom. Thus 
was the the "web" lengthened out and the number of yards 
materially increased ; and we are assured that it made 
excellent " filling," and that the cloth was equal in quality 
to " all wool," with the single exception that it was rather 
rough. Necessity was the mother of invention. 

Mr. Brigham, though college educated and intelligent, 
was eccentric, and from first to last quite unorthodox. He 
was no office-seeker, and was never an office-holder, except 
in his own town. He was at intervals invited to address 
the people, in his own vicinity, publicly, and was always 
entertaining and instructive ; occasionally he volunteered to 
do so, and made his appointments by posted notices writ- 
ten in his own hand. The following is a sample, copied 
verbatim from one which called together a large meeting 
forty years ago : — 

" Notice is hereby given that the plough- 
jogger will deliver a political Oration, or Address, on Sat- 
urday the 22nd inst., at Madison village, beginning at early 
candle-light ; calculated to refine the minds and enlighten 
the understandings of a divided, misguided, and tumultuous 
populace. — Sept. 17th, 1832." 

No signature was affixed and none was needed ; the 
'' plough-jogger" was well known ; the people came. 

Mr. Brigham and his wife Betsey (the latter a native of 
Guilford, Ccnn., born in 1764,) with several of their child- 
ren have been dead many years. All rest in the family 
burial ground, in a beautiful grove selected by Mr. Brigham 
for that purpose, on the homestead farm. The farm passed 
to the youngest daughter, Mrs. Aaron Richards, who sur- 
vives. It is now {1872,) in possession of her son, Daniel 
Richards. This home has thus remained and still contin- 
ues in the family of its founder. 

Jonas Banton, also from Wilbraham, came in 1801. Ban- 
ton was a man of great physical strength and activity. 
On one occasion he engaged to chop an acre of land for 



598 MADISON COUNTY. 

Brownell Simmons and fit it for logging, for the sum of six 
dollars ; he performed the work in six days ; but when on 
the last tree, after it had fallen, he accidentally struck the 
ax into his foot, and was obliged to lay by for three months. 
The first piece of land he purchased, after spending seven 
years of hard labor in improving it, he failed in making a 
certain payment upon, when due, and lost the whole. 
Strong and hopeful, he did not yield to this serious dis- 
couragement, but immediately purchased again, and was 
thenceforth successful. He became a prosperous farmer, 
through steady, never-failing courage and perseverance, and 
was ever worthy of and enjoyed the respect of his fellow- 
townsmen ; and now, (1869,) at or near the age of ninety, 
can look back with a memory but little impaired, and with 
conscientious satisfaction, upon the events of his earlier 
life, when he was a sort of leader or foreman among his 
fellows, at raisings, loggings and similar gatherings. He 
remembers with affection the ready assistance of his wife 
(many years since deceased,) in his pioneer labors, who was 
ever to him a true help-meet, companion and promoter of 
his prosperity. An incident illustrative of what those pio- 
neer women could do, is related : — Mr. Banton was once 
burning a large coal-pit ; it caught fire in the night, and 
soon got under such headway that he could not control it 
The ground was covered with snow twenty inches deep, 
but undaunted, Mrs. Banton went through it a mile on foot 
to obtain help for her husband to arrest the fire. In that day, 
when women -were ashamed of timidity, even alone, in the 
night, and in the depths of the forest, this bravely-met 
emergency, in a mid-winter night of darkness, storm and 
gloom, was counted a courageous act. 

Agur Gilbert, from Stratford, Conn., arrived in town in 
1799, and bought at Solsville, where his son, Dea. John 
Gilbert, lived till the death of the latter in 1870. One of 
the six children of Mr. Gilbert, Agur Gilbert, jr., was a 
Justice of the Peace at Solsville many years ; he was also. 



MADISON. 



599 



for two terms, we believe, one of the Justices of Sessions 
of Madison County. We note further of this son, that 
though self-taught, he acquired much ; he became a man of 
marked ability, and was from the first a popular magistrate. 
It is not too much to say that in his removal to Wisconsin 
in 1867, the town and county of Madison lost one of its 
soundest and worthiest public men. Agur Gilbert, sen., 
died at his homestead in Solsville about 1840, aged over 
seventy years. Dea. John Gilbert, who, as we have just 
noted, deceased in 1870, succeeded his father upon the farm, 
and was scarcely ever known to leave his home over night. 
He was too small a child, when his parents made the jour- 
ney from Conn,, in 1799, to remember anything of tl.e cir- 
cumstance ; and it is said, with the exception of one trip 
to Utica, (22 miles,) when he was a young man, he was 
nev^er twenty miles from home, never rode in a stage coach, 
and never saw a train of railroad cars. 

Dea. Prince Spooner came early to the northwest quar- 
ter, and took up a farm on Lot No. 2, where his youngest 
son, Benjamin Spooner, now lives, John Niles settled on 
Lot 43, near Bouckville, about 1794 or '95. He was fol- 
lowed by his father's family, consisting of father, brothers 
and sisters — in all fourteen persons. He sold in 1808, to 
J. D. Cooledge, and removed to Lebanon. 

James D. Cooledge was from Stow, Middlesex Co., Mass. 
He came to Madison in 1806. He had good business tal- 
ents, and his own way of exercising them. It is said that 
he came into town as a flax-dresser, making very little 
show, but at the same time keeping a sharp look out for 
a good farm and chance to buy. When he made the pur- 
chase of Niles and paid ^200 down to secure the bargain, 
the latter did not suppose the purchaser would be able to 
meet subsequent payments, and did not, therefore, consider 
the farm really sold One of his neighbors, Solomon Root, 
who had observed the quiet business abilities of Cooledge, 
meeting Mr. Niles one day, sententiously remarked to him, 



600 MADISON COUNTY. 

"Mr. Niles, your farm is sold !" Contrary to Mr. Niles' ex- 
pectations, Mr. Cooledge proved to be successful, and took 
possession of the farm next spring. The farm he thus 
bought is now one of the best in the town of Madison ; it 
once took the County Agricultural Society's premium of a 
silver cup. It is now owned by Charles Z. Brockett. On 
this farm grew the first crop of hops raised in Madison 
County. James and William, sons of James D. Cooledge, 
reside in Bouckville at the present date. James was born 
in Boxboro, Mass., and is now (July, 1870,) aged 84 years ; 
William was born in Stow, in December, 1802, and is there- 
fore now 68 years of age ; Sylvanus, another son, also re- 
sided near Bouckville till some thirty years since. Henry 
Cooledge, now a resident of Madison village, is another son 
of J. D, Cooledge. 

Dr. Samuel McClure came to Bouckville in 1805, and 
opened a tavern. The Cherry Valley Turnpike was then 
being built, and this point offered an advantageous location 
for such an enterprise. 

In the spring of 1804, Eli Bancroft and Abner Burnham, 
from Hartford, Conn., came to '* look land." They stopped 
in Madison, and Jeremiah Mack, who owned a piece of land 
on "Water St.," asked them to see it before going further. 
They were pleased with its location, and immediately pur- 
chased. With their families they arrived in October, hav- 
ing been four weeks on the road. They found a double log 
tenement, none too large or commodious, but the two fami- 
lies, Bancroft and Burnham, consisting of fourteen persons, 
were soon domiciled in one part, the other being occupied 
by Mack, which they found to be rather snug quarters for 
the winter. This house stood near where Albion Burn- 
ham, a grandson of Abner Burnham, now lives, on Lot 
No. 13. 

Mr, Burnham kept the land that he and Bancroft at first 
jointly occupied, which is still owned by his : ons, Matthew 
R. and Elizur Burnham. Abner Burnham lived to the age 
of 80 years, a respected citizen. 



MADISON. 60I 

David Mason, from Springfield, Mass., came into town in 
1808, and bought what has since been known as the " Old 
Clemmons Place," nearly a mile east of the village. He 
had a family of several children. One son, Elihu, became 
a minister of the Presbyterian order ; another, Hezekiah, 
(a graduate of either Yale or Harvard,) entered the legal 
profession. David Mason died at the residence of his son 
David, in the adjoining town of Augusta, in 1822, at the 
advanced age of 83 years. 

Roderick Spencer, from Hartford, Conn., came in the 
winter of 1 806, and located on Water street, purchasing 
near Abner Burnham. 

Abijah Parker settled in town very early, locating three- 
fourths of a mile northeast of Bouckville, on Lot 23, now 
known as the "Babcock Place." Zadok, son of Abijah, 
was one of the first physicians in Madison. 

Thomas, Levi and the Rev. Salmon Morton, were early 
settlers, and were among the most successful and influen- 
tial of that day. The mother of these men died at the 
home of her daughter, Mrs. Charles Lewis, about the year 
1846, aged nearly 102 years. 

The first child born in the town of Madison, as before 
stated, was Sally, daughter of Nicanor Brown. She be- 
came Mrs. Anson Brooks. The first male child was Mar- 
cena Collister, 

The first saw mill erected in Madison, is supposed to 
have been the one known as the Dunham saw mill, located 
one mile below Cleaveland's mills on the Oriskany Creek. 

We have before stated that Erastus Cleaveland built the 
first grist mill in town in 1794. In a few years, finding his 
mill overstocked with grinding, particularly in the dry sea- 
son, he, with characteristic enterprise, erected a mill half a 
mile east of his first, on the same stream, which soon took 
the name of " Gray's Mill," and some years after he built 
still another at Solsville, now Parker's. Cleaveland trans- 
ferred this mill to his son-in-law, N. S. Howard, about 1832, 



6o2 MADISON COUNTY. 

who, after the completion of the Chenango Canal, clauned 
that his mill privilege was damaged by this State work to a 
large extent. He applied for, and obtained of the Legisla- 
ture, damages to near the value of the mill, and the distil- 
lery which he also owned, standing opposite. These, with 
much other property for manufacturing, remained unused 
for about ten years, when the entire water power of the 
place passed into other hands, and the milt was repaired 
and put in use. Within a few years the old distillery has 
been changed into a cheese factory on the same site. 

The first frame house in town was built by Solomon 
Perkins, where T. L. Spencer now resides, one mile west 
of Madison village — Lot No. 37. Samuel Clemmons built 
one, near the same time, a short distance west of Squire 
Samuel White's present residence. A short time after, an- 
other frame house was built, which is still standing (1867) 
opposite Samuel Cleaveland's house ; this was for many 
years the residence of Samuel Berry, a brother-in-law of 
Erastus Cleaveland. 

Taverns, institutions of great importance to the new 
country and to the emigrating public, were numerous. 
One of the first, perhaps tJie first, was kept by Daniel Hol- 
brook, one mile west of Solsville. Samuel Clemmons kept 
a tavern in the northeast part of the town at an early day, 
and Seth Snow kept one at about the same time two miles 
east of the village. Maj. Ephraim Clough, from Boston 
Mass., also kept a tavern in the northeast part. " Clough's 
Tavern" had a wide reputation. Otis McCartney bought the 
stand, after Clough's death, and converted it into a private 
residence. Amos Fuller kept a store near Clough's, which 
was burned down in 1808 or 9. 

THE "opening." 

The " Indian Opening " gave promise from the first of be- 
ing the village of the town. It was beautifully situated, 
and presented many inducements for the inhabitants to 
make it a centralizing location. John T. Burton built, and 



MADSION. 603 

for many years kept a tavern at this point ; this, also, \vas 
one of the first taverns opened in Madison. The remark 
used to be made, that " Burton kept his flip-iron hot from 
December to May," — which would indicate that nearly 
everybody drank flip in those days. There is an anecdote 
related which illustrates the efficiency of a law in force at 
that period, forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquors to 
Indians : — An Indian came to Burton's tavern one day and 
asked for whisky, which, though the request was repeated- 
ly urged, Burton decidedly refused. Finding persistance 
did not avail, the shrewd fellow went away a short distance 
and found a boy, whom he sent to Mr. Burton's bar, and 
got the whisky; Possessed of his jug, and triumphantly 
displaying it, the Indian stalked up to the tavern door, and 
as he took a drink with evident gusto, called out, " Misser 
Burton ! Misser Burton ! your law got a hole in it !" 

A store was kept at the opening by John Lucas. At 
this place the first postoffice in town was established, with 
Asa B. Sizer as first postmaster. The mail was carried 
on horseback about once a week, over the State road, which 
was early opened to Waterville, (then " Sangerfield Hud- 
dle,") and soon extended through Madison. One of the 
earliest physicians, Dr. Parker, had his office here for many 
years, and a church, organized in 1798, erected a house 
of worship here in 1802. 

The first "Fourth of July" celebration in town was at the 
Opening. The inhabitants determined this should be a 
memorable time, and accordingly great preparations were 
made beforehand. A pine bough house was put up, which 
was tastefully finished off by the women ; powder was pro- 
cured, a fifty-six pound weight was got in readiness to serve 
as a cannon, and a keg of rum was transported from Utica. 
In the evergreen arbor a tastefully decorated table was 
spread, loaded with every luxury the country aftbrded at 
that time. We doubt not there were, in the infinite variety, 
chicken pies and roast meats in abundance, including m the 



604 MADISON COUNTY. 

latter the stuffed pig standing upon all fours on the largest 
pewter platter in the settlement, with gingerbread, dough- 
nuts and dried pumpkin pies, the standard delicacies, once, 
for dessert. The day came and was somehow ushered in ; 
but the fifty-six, as ordinarily charged, did not cause suffi- 
cient eclat ; so they placed upon it a thick plank loaded 
with cobble stones and applied a slow match to the powder. 
The stones were thrown in every direction, and the thunder- 
ing sound of the discharge echoed and reverberated far 
away in the adjacent woods, this time doing satisfactory 
honor to the illustrious occasion ; but the tedious waiting 
for the slow match did not harmonize with the spirit of the 
day. At length an old Indian, who had imbibed somewhat 
freely of the imported beverage in the keg, decided to 
stand by the improvised cannon and ignite the powder after 
the manner of "white man " artillerists. This he did 
repeatedly, the cobbles flying all around him ; and at each 
explosion he could be seen in the midst of a cloud of smoke, 
swinging his arms, gesticulating like an orator and shouting 
out amid the confusion, " Good soldier ! never flinch ! " 

After the excitement of the firing had passed, all were 
exceedingly astonished, and very thankful too, to find that 
the Indian had not been harmed. Those who took part in 
this celebration, declared in after years, that in all their life- 
time, they never so well enjoyed the "glorious Fourth," as on 
this occasion at the Opening. 

The first Church society in the town of Madison, Con- 
gregational, was organized in 1796, with nine members. 
The first pastor of this Church was Rev. Ezra Woodworth, 
who preached about eight years. A barn belonging to Mr. 
Berry, which stood where now is Samuel Cleaveland's garden, 
was their place of worship for a season. In 1804, they 
built a church at the Center. The barn above mentioned 
was also used for town meetings and other large gatherings 
previous to the building of the church. 

The people of Madison were ever ready to improve op- 



MADISON. 605 

portunities promising the general advancement. Hence 
when the Cherry Valley Turnpike was projected, they gave 
the enterprise a hearty and effective support. It became 
the means also of bringing new villages into existence, and 
so Madison village and Bouckville grew up, while the 
"Opening," and the "Center," both in the beginning promising 
some notoriety as villages, fell into decay. 

MADISON VILLAGE. 

The land upon which the village is located, was first 
taken up by Seth Gibson, and by him sold to Samuel 
Berry, receiving twenty-five dollars for his interest. The 
good soil and fine location induced Mr. Berry to make the 
purchase, though he acted on the suggestion of Mr. Cleave- 
land ; not thinking, however, that time and circumstances 
would so largely enhance its value. The germ of the new 
village soon appeared above ground ; Mr. Berry sold Samuel 
Sinclair the northwest corner in the cross-roads, where the 
latter built and kept a tavern a number of years. He was 
succeeded by Goodwin, and the same building is now (1870,) 
standing. John Lucas moved his store from the Opening 
to the northeast corner, where Mr. Morgan's hardware 
store now is, and continued trade there many years. The 
town clerk, Asa B. Sizer, located his dwelling just east of 
the tavern. Alfred Wells was also one of the first mer- 
chants, and had his store on the southeast corner. Dr. 
Samuel Barber, kept the first drug store— which was the 
place where the murderer, Hitchcock, obtained the poison 
to destroy his wife. Dr. Barber built the first dwelling 
house of the place, which is standing now, east of the M. 
E. Church. Eliphalet House, who was for many years, in 
the early days, a blacksmith and edge-tool maker at the 
Opening, was followed in the same business by his sons 
E'eazer and James, who located and continued in the busi- 
ness, in the village, for many years. Lawyers, doctors 
and other professional men, found this point a desirable loca- 
tion for their several callings. Phineas L. and Albert H. 



6o6 MADISON COUNTY, 

Tracy, brothers, Judge Edward Rogers and David Woods, 
were of the earUest and most promuient lawyers ; and 
Doctors Parker, CoIHster, Putnam, Sizer, Pratt and Bar- 
ker, are remembered as physicians of the first quarter 
century ; some of them for a later period. Rev. Ezra 
Woodworth, Elder Salmon Morton, Rev. Simeon Snow 
and Elder E. M. Spencer, are frequently named as 
pastors of this town during the early years of the churches. 
Itinerant ministers from all denominations frequently visi- 
ted the people here, among whom were Rev. Eliphalet 
Steele, of Paris, Congregational ; Elder John Peck, of the 
Baptist order ; Father Stacy, of the Universalist denomina- 
tion, and the noted and eccentric Lorenzo Dow. Madison 
village was incorporated, April 17, 18 16, being then one of 
the three incorporated villages in the county. 

BoucKViLLEwas mostly built up after the construction of 
the Chenango Canal. It was known at first to the travel- 
ins: world as " McClure Settlement," and continued to be 
thus known many years. McClure's tavern, which stood 
east of the M. E. Church, is still a very good building, 
having been commodiously and tastefully improved ; it is 
now the residence of Dea. William Cooledge. Southeast 
of his tavern stood McClure's dwelling house, on the once 
State road, on land now owned by James Cooledge, Esq. ; 
the house was removed years ago. On the corner wliere 
Marcius Washburn now lives, stood the "Crain House," one 
of the taverns of the turnpike. John Edgarton, one of the 
first settlers of the town, located at Bouckville. 

In the early times there was a road passing from the 
State road, from a point where Mr. Theodore Spencer now 
lives, in a southerly direction over the hill to the Manchester 
Settlement. On this road lived Capt. Russel in a log house. 
Charles Z. Brockett, the present owner of the same farm, 
has preserved the hearth-stone of Russel's log cabin, a 
slab of common limestone, and uses it as a door-stone at 
his residence. 



MADISON. 



607 



McClure's settlement was also known as the "Hook;'' 
but when the place (about 1824,) began to assume the pro- 
portions of a village, it was considered proper that a dis- 
tinctive name should be given it. Accordingly a number 
of the leading men of the place and neighborhood convened 
to select one. A. P. Lord, the Lelands, the Edgartons, 
and many others were present. After enjoying a convivial 
season, in which all became more merry if possible than 
was their wont, John Edgarton was duly crowned master of 
the ceremonious occasion, and his name was decided upon 
as the one to be honored, by naming the place " Johnsville." 
The locality bore this name until the construction of the 
Chenango Canal, when, a postoffice being about to be 
established, it became necessary to select a new name. 
Many, perhaps a majority, preferred the last christening ; 
but to this there was discovered a serious objection. The 
State of New York already had so many postofifices named 
after " John," with variations so nearly approximating 
" Johnsville " in orthography, that it was feared confusion 
might become worse confounded by continuing it for the 
postoffice, and so it was dropped. The name of " Bouck- 
ville," in honor of Governor Bouck, was therefore adopted 
for the village and postoffice. 

SoLsviLLE, asmall village on the Chenango Canal, which, 
as before stated, once bore the name of " Dalrymple's Saw 
Mill," and " Howard's Mills," was, like Bouckville, named 
at a convivial gathering, in honor of Solomon or " Sol' 
Alcott, who was a resident of the place and a manufacturer 
of potash. 



The Chenango Canal has done much for the prosperity 
of the town of Madison, as well as for the county at large, 
and other sections through which it passes. In its incipiency 
the prominent men of Madison, Chenango and Broome 
Counties, particularly, labored long and earnestly to obtain a 
movement by the Legislature in its behalf Moses May- 



6o8 MADISON COUNTY. 

nard was sent by the people to Albany to advocate the 
budding enterprise. By his persistent efforts he obtained 
a recognition of the bill, and also gained the interest of 
Wm. C. Bouck, who afterwards became Governor, The 
Governor's influence was a great acquisition ; the bill re- 
ceived attention, Commissioners were appointed to estimate 
the cost, &c. ; but even this support, together with Mr. 
Maynard's two years' labor at Albany, did not quite insure 
the success of the enterprise, till it was ascertained that the 
"long level" on the Erie Canal needed another feeder. The 
advocates of the new canal were on hand at this juncture ; 
they succeeded in showing conclusively that the proposed 
work would become such a feeder, and the bill authorizing 
its construction, therefore, passed ; with provisions that it 
take none of the waters of the Oriskany and Sauquoit 
Creeks, and that the cost be not more than a million dol- 
lars. The work was begun in 1833, and completed in 1836. 
The summit level, as before stated, is in this town. From 
Oriskany Falls to Bouckville, a distance of six miles, it 
rises 172 feet, it being at the latter point 1,128 feet above 
tide. From Utica to the summit, it rises 706 feet, by 
^6 locks, and from thence descends 303 feet by 38 locks, 
to the Susquehanna, at Binghamton. 



The origin of the name of " Water Street" is thus re- 
lated : — One hot summer day, when the country was new, 
a stranger on horse-back came through the town on this 
street, and at every house stopped for water to give his 
thirsty horse ; there were no wells, and the springs and 
streams were dry. Being at last unable to refresh himself 
or beast, he rode off in disgust to the nearest point on the 
Oriskany Creek, where their pressing needs were satisfied. 
He mentioned his ill luck on that long street to the first 
settlers he met, and contemptuously called it " Water St." 
It has borne that name to this day. 



In 1805, Madison was the scene of a great religious dis- 



MADISON. 60g 

cussion, between Elder Salmon Morton, Baptist, and Rev. 
Nathaniel Stacy, Universalist. The meeting was held in a 
barn. The entire community for several miles around were 
deeply interested, and sympathy for one or the other of the 
eminent disputants waxed warm. The Baptist Church at 
Hamilton took a lively interest in this discussion. Rev. 
Stacy, or "Father Stacy," as he was aftectionately called 
in his advanced years, was a traveling preacher, and one of 
the ablest of his denomination. The founding of a Uni- 
versalist Church in Madison grew out of Rev. Stacy's dis- 
cussions, and his itinerant visits in the subsequent years. 
According to the information obtained in reference to this 
— -at the time — famous religious disputation in Madison, 
each disputant came out of it triumphantly victorious ; 
each creed was totally annihilated, in the opinion of its 
opponents, yet each church lived and flourished after- 
wards. 



About 1807, Alpheus Hitchcock, the murderer, lived at 
Madison Center. He was a fine singer, and one of the best 
of the early singing school teachers. He was said to have 
been one of the handsomest men in the country. The un- 
lawful attachment he formed for one of his pupils proved 
his ruin ; to be free to follow the bent of his inclinations, 
he compassed his wife's death by giving her poison. He 
was arrested, proven guilty and hung in Cazenovia, then the 
County seat. He was the first person upon whom was in- 
flicted this extreme penalty, in Madison County. The mur- 
der, the circumstances connected with it, the trial and exe- 
cution, produced intense exciteme,.it throughout the entire 
county. 



In the autumn of 1806, this section was visited by a ma- 
lignant fever, to which many fell victims : A merchant at 
the Center, Silas Patrick, had been to Philadelphia to pur- 
chase goods, and while there contracted it. The contagion 

M2 



6lO MADISON COUNTY. 

spread ; Mr. Thomas Dick's family, living near Mr. Fat- 
rick's, being the first after the latter to be prostrated with 
it. On the 4th of December, Mr. Dick, aged 50 years, 
died. Within six weeks from the date of his attack, his 
wife, a daughter, two sons, his aged mother and himself 
were all dead. Levi Dick, another son, aged 22, was left 
with the care of three young children, the eldest a girl of 
12, and the youngest an infant a year old. This terrible 
disease, which made such havoc throughout the settlement, 
somewhat resembled the yellow fever, but with such pecu- 
liar symptoms that the physicians were unable to success- 
lully control it. Dr. Greenly, of Hamilton, by skillful treat- 
ment, arrested its progress. Levi Dick pursued a manly, 
praiseworthy course with the surviving remnant of his 
father's family ; he went on with the cares and la- 
bors of the farm, his young sister keeping house, and with 
more than brotherly affection reared the young children ; 
by his diligence and prudence he kept up the payments on 
the farm, thus securing at last a paid for homestead, and 
subsequently accumulated a considerable property. He 
was a respected member of society, possessed excellent 
qualities of head and heart, with a mind well stored with 
that solid and practical knowledge which is gained by dili- 
gence in spare moments during years of toil. He survived 
to a ripe old age, dying at the home of his daughter, Mrs. 
W. F. Warren, in Augusta, Oneida County, in the winter 
of 1870, aged 85 years. 



We have before noted that the first crop of hops grown 
in Madison County (perhaps in Central New York,) was 
raised by James D. Cooledge. In 1808, he began the cul- 
ture by securing all the roots that could be spared from the 
single hill or two in each of his neighbors' gardens ; these 
he increased and enlarged from, year after year, and sup- 
plied home breweries. In the fall of 18 16, Mr. Cooledge 
took the first western hops to the New York market, after 



MADISON. 5j j 

which, dealers in that product were ready to hold out in- 
ducements to growers in Central New York. His adjoin- 
ing neighbor, Solomon Root, also engaged in hop growing 
as soon as he could obtain the setts, and about the year 
1817 or 'i8, sold two tons of hops at $1,000 per ton. After 
this, farmers of this section needed no urging to go into the 
business. During the subsequent forty years the town of 
Madison was largely indebted to the hop culture for its 
steadily growing wealth ; so marked and substantial was the 
advance among hop growers, that travelers were always 
struck with the evidences of it on every farm where one 
or more acres of stacked poles were to be seen. 

The imaginative tourist will readily draw comparisons 
between the primitive ages and the to-day. In yonder 
field of stacked poles, he sees the wigwams of far away 
olden time ; in those grotesque groups of merry hop pick- 
ers, he beholds the dusky women of the ancient forest con- 
vened in the " Opening" to gather the harvest of Indian 
corn ; in the hilarious shouts and songs of those same 
groups of country girls under the growing vines, or in the 
shriek of the steam whistle, as the locomotive rushes like 
a ferocious monster over the iron threaded landscape, he 
fancies that he hears the concerted whoop of the savage 
horde ringing through the wilderness of an hundred years 
ago ; and his vision of what has been, is faithful and true, 
even upon or contiguous to the scene which produced it. 
There is truly a coincidence thus far in the two periods of 
time so far asunder, but here it must end. The heavy 
depths of the ancient forest is wanting. All this has been 
swept away by the men of whom we have been writing. 
Another race of beings swarm upon the area once covered 
with massive trees ; all is changed, and the march of pro- 
gress is onward. 

PROMINENT MEN. 

Erastus Cleaveland of whom frequent mention has al- 
ready been made, was from Norwich. Conn. He was born 



6i2 MADISON COUNTY, 

in 1 77 1, was a poor youth, and compelled by the rigor oi 
circumstances to support himself from the age of fourteen^ 
In 1792 he visited Madison, and in '93 came here to locate 
and build up the first mills> as has been stated in the fore- 
going annals. 

In addition to these enterprises on Oriskany Creek, he 
also started a distillery and brewery, and afterwards a card- 
ing machine and satinet cloth factory. He also dealt 
largely in buying and fattening cattle for the New York 
and Philadelphia markets. Gen. Cleaveland, Maj. Clougb 
and Capt. Seth Blair, frequently journeyed together in 
taking their droves to market. Cleaveland was remarkable 
for energy, skill and perseverance. He was all through his 
life one of the first business men of Madison, and possessed 
unrivaled influence among his townsmen, while through- 
out the country he was well known, respected, and hiS' 
judgment relied on. He held the office of Justice of the 
Peace for many years, was Supervisor ibr a long period,, 
and was elected to the Legislature twice after the organi- 
zation of Madison County. He also held several other 
offices, both in town and county, all ; of which is evidence 
of the confidence and respect in which he was held in his- 
every day life. He was commissioned Lieut. Colonel in 
the war of 18 [2, and was acting Colonel of his regiment, on 
duty at Sackett's Harbor. He was afterwards constituted 
a Brigadier General of militia in this county. 

Mr. Cleaveland was successful in all his business pur- 
suits. He died at his residence near Madison village in 
1858, in the 87th year of his age. His worthy christian wife 
survived him four years. Samuel G. Cleaveland, his son, 
succeeded him upon the homestead. 

Phineas L. and Albert H. Tracy, from Norwich, Conn., 
came to Madison village in 181 1, then young men, and 
engaged, in co-partnership, in the practice of law. They 
remained four or five years, when Phineas removed to Bata- 
via, where he became somewhat noted in the profession. 



MADISON. gjn 

Albert went to Buffalo and won a high reputation in prac- 
tice. He was elected to Congress from that district. 

Edward Rogers succeeded the Tracys, and practiced law 
in Madison about thirty years. He was also for some 
years Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Judge Rog- 
ers was a graduate of Yale College, a writer of ability, and 
published several works. In 1840 he was elected to Con- 
gress and served one term. His son, H. Gould Rogers, 
was commissioned Consul to Sardinia under the adminis- 
tration of President Taylor. 

David Woods, from Salem, Washington County, N. Y., 
came to Madison about 18 16, and practiced law about 
eight years. He was elected to the Legislature in 18 16, 
and in 18 17, and was Speaker of the Assembly both years. 
During Mr. Wood's stay in town, Samuel Nelson, now a 
Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
studied two years in his office and afterwards married his 
daughter. Judge Nelson now, (1870,) resides at Coopers- 
town. 

Dr. Asa B. Sizer, one of the early physicians of the town, 
the first Postmaster, the first Clerk of the County in 1806, 
became Surrogate Judge of Madison County in 18 16. Dr. 
Sizer was a man of ability, and was highly esteemed politi- 
cally, among his constituents. 

Stephen F. Blackstone, was a man possessed of the 
qualities requisite in providing for the public needs of a 
new country. Always wide awake to the interests of the 
community, he was by that community trusted, honored and 
promoted. In 18 14, he was chosen to the Asembly ; sub- 
sequently he was constituted Judge of Common Pleas, but 
his chief energies were directed towards developing the 
resources of the new country ; hence he became a zealous 
and leading agriculturist. Through the always conspicu- 
ous activity of this man, improvements were introduced, 
many branches of industry were revived, better stock was 
reared, and altogether the agricultural interest of the town 



6 14 MADISON COUNTY, 

were being continually expanded and placed upon a better 
basis than before. No man in Madison was more energetic 
in bringing about these results than Judge Blackstone. 

James Cooledge. Esq., is one of the last survivors of the 
early settlers of Madison. He was for a great many years 
a practical surveyor, and hence became the standard 
authority in this town, in matters pertaining to this science. 
The author of French's map of Madison County, trusted 
to Mr. Cooledge's critical judgment in delineating this 
town, and found he had acted wisely in so doing. Mr. 
Cooledge has held the office of Justice of the Peace for 
many years, and has frequently, all his long life, been 
chosen to act in other official capacities, to the satisfaction 
and credit of his constituents. 

Physicians. — Among the earlier physicians were the 
following : — 

Dr. Parker was located at the Indian Opening several 
years, but afterwards removed to a new residence a half 
mile east of the village. Though possessing some peculiar 
constitutional traits, he had the reputation of being a well 
read, skillful physician. 

Dr. Elijah Putnam, originally from West Cambridge, 
Mass., came to Peterboro in 1801. In March, 1802, he 
located a half mile east of Madison Center, where he 
resided and continued to practice about forty years. He 
was a worthy respected man and christian gentleman, as 
well as an excellent physician. He spent a few of the last 
years of his life in the village, with his son, Henry Putnam. 
His death occurred in January, 185 1, in his eighty-second 
year. His son, Dr. John Putnam, residing in Madison vil- 
lage, succeeded him in practice. 

Dr. Jonathan Pratt came into town early, and lived near 
where Samuel G. Cleaveland now resides. He was a highly 
respected citizen as well as a skillful physician. Dr. Pratt, 
of Eaton, and Dr. Pratt, of Fenner, were his brothers. He 
practiced several years, when he lost his life by accident 
in falling from a ladder. 



MADISON. 5j^ 

Dr. Samuel Collister practiced medicine a number of 
years at the Center with Dr. Putnam, with whom he 
studied. He was considered a physician of superior skill, 
and his death at middle age was much lamented. 

Dr. Daniel Barker, having taken a part in the war of 
1812, came to Madison in 18 15, and established himself in 
the village. Here he was a successful practitioner through 
life, dying but a few years since. He was popular profes- 
sionally, and was a man of influence. As a man of talent, 
and as a gentleman in the true sense, he had few superiors. 

CHURCHES. 

The Congregational Church of Madison, was organized 
September 6, 1796, by Rev. Eliphalet Steele of Paris. 
Ten members composed the organization. The barn of 
John Berry was used for the meetings. In 1802 a meeting 
house was commenced at the Center, which was finished 
and dedicated about two years after. Rev. Ezra Wood- 
worth was the first pastor. He was sent out to preach by 
Rev. Jonathan Edwards, the renowned divine. The meet- 
ing house after standing twenty years at the Center, was 
taken down and rebuilt on a new site, on the north side of 
the road nearly opposite where it stood before. In 1856, it 
was again taken down and rebuilt in Madison village, where 
it still remains- 

The Baptist Chtirch of Madison was formed December 
20, 1798, at the house of Moses Phelps near Solsville. 
Rev. Joel Butler, was the first pastor. The meeting house 
was built at the "Opening" about 1802. (Note o.) Elder 
Salmon Morton was ordained in this house June 23, 1802, 
and preached here twelve years. In 1833, the society built 
a new house of worship at Madison village. It has recent- 
ly been improved at considerable cost. 

A Society of friends was early organized in this town, and 
built a small meeting house. The society is now extinct, 
and their building is unused and falling to decay. 

The Utiiversalisi Church of Madison was early established 



6l6 MADISON COUNTY. 

in the village. The present edifice was built in 1821. This 
church is at present markedly prosperous under the 
pastoral care of Rev. A. H. Marshall. 

Methodist Episcopal CJmrch of Madison village, was 
organized with a class of seven persons, at an early date. 
Solomon Root was prominent in erecting the Chapel in 
1840. During the present year, under the labors of Rev. 
Samuel Babcock, a fine enlargement has been made, also 
thorough repairs at considerable cost. 

The Methodist Church at Bouckville, was organized at 
Solomon Root's house, by the Rev. Barak Cooley. Solomon 
Root was the first Class Leader. The first Methodist Chapel, 
of this part of the country, was built on Mr. Root's farm 
near the town line. In 1852^ the society erected their 
church at Bouckville. 



NELSON. 



617 



CHAPTER XIII 



NELSON, 



Boundaries. — Geography. — Township No. i. — Large Company 
of Pioneers in 1793. — Settlement of Northeast Quarter. — 
Incidents. — Early Enterprises. — Richardsons, and other Pio- 
neers. — Incidents. — Early Churches. — Customs of the Day. — 
Encounter with a Bear. — Deaths by Accident. — Incidents. — 
Erieville. — Nelson Flats. — Churches. 

This town is bounded north by Fenner and Smithfield, 
east by Eaton, south by Georgetown, and west by Cazeno- 
via. It is one of the central towns of the County. Its 
surface is broken by successive ridges bearing in a north- 
easterly and southwesterly direction, which form the contin- 
uation of the watershed, dividing the waters flowing north and 
south. At a number of points, the opposite flowing streams 
have their source within a few rods of each other. At the "Tog 
Hill House," (a former hotel on the turnpike,) the water 
falling from the eaves of the roof take opposite directions, — 
from one side mingling with the northward bound streams, 
form the other with those flowing southward. 

The principal stream of this town, is the Chittenango 
Creek, which has two considerable branches. The largest 
of these rises in Fenner, and enters this town in the north 
part, courses southerly, then westerly, and in the northwest 
quarter unites with the other branch from the south, where 
the two form the main Chittenango, then a stream of much 
volume and power, flowing to the north through Cazenovia. 
The south branch has its source a short distance southeast 



6l8 MADISON COUNTY. 

of Erieviile, and is fed by numerous rivulets from springs in 
the hillsides. This, and a tributary from the east, supplies 
Erieviile Reservoir, which was constructed in 1857, at a 
cost of $10,884,73, covers an area of 340 acres, and lies at 
a considerable elevation above the Erie Canal of which it is 
a feeder, and is distant from the canal about 18 miles. 
The Eaton Reservoir, which supplies the Chenango Canal, 
lies partly in this town on the southeast border. 

The soil of Nelson is generally of a gravelly loam, well 
adapted for grazing. The sections denominated in years 
past, the " cold hills of Nelson," are now productive dairy 
farms. Factories for making butter and cheese, are to be 
seen at frequent intervals. Published agricultural statistics, 
place this town high in the scale for its dairy and other 
exports. 

Two State roads were laid out through this town, at an 
early day ; one passing through the south part oi the 
town, entering it from Eaton, across the land afterwards 
flowed by the Eaton Reservoir, passing over the hills 
through Erieviile to Woodstock, thence to Union and 
Pompey Hill in Cazenovia ; the other, coming from Morris- 
ville, passing directly west through the town near the cen- 
ter. The Skaneateles Turnpike, afterwards constructed, 
took the general course of the former. The Cherry 
Valley Turnpike, built about 1806, took a more northwesterly 
course than the State road from Morrisville, passing through 
Nelson Flats to Cazenovia. The Syracuse and Chenango 
Valley Railroad, now being constructed, crossed the town 
of Nelson, entering in the northwest quarter and passing 
out near the center of the south line. 

Nelson was Township No. i, of the Chenango Twenty 
Towns, and according to its first survey, contained 27,187 
acres. It was purchased by Col. John Lincklaen, and added 
to his Road Township Purchase in 1793 ; and when 
Cazenovia was organized in 1795, this Township was inclu- 
ded in it. By an act of the Legislature, passed March 13, 



NELSON, 5lQ 

1 807 ; it was detached or formed from Cazenovia, the inhabi- 
tants naming it " Nelson," in honor of Lord Nelson the 
British Admiral. The first town meeting was held in a 
barn belonging to Rufus Wever, located where the State 
Road intersected with the road from Nelson Flats to Erie- 
ville. The barn was of sufficient capacity to hold the 
assemblage of voters, it being fifty-two feet long, by about 
forty wide ; and if not the first, was one of the first frame 
barns of the town. It is still a good barn. The first 
Supervisor was John Rice ; the first Justice of the Peace, 
Jedediah Jackson. But three men who were old enough 
to take part in the town meeting, are now living in the 
town ; these are Benj. Wadsworth, David Case and David 
Card. 

In 1793, Jedediah Jackson and Joseph Yaw came from 
Vermont, to locate land in Township No. i, for a company 
who proposed to emigrate from that State. The situation 
of the land pleased these commissioners, and the northeast 
quarter of the township was purchased. Accordingly, in 
1794, twenty families came on from Pownell, Vt., and settled 
that quarter, and also other parts of the township. The 
names of these pioneers, together with others who came 
during the same and following year, are as follows : — 
Jedediah Jackson, Oliver Alger, Ebenezer Lyon, Levi Neal, 
Daniel Adams, Thomas Swift, Esquire Howard, Luther 
Doolittle, Joseph Carey, John Everton and his three sons, 
Rufus Wever, David Nichols, Noel Johnson, Nicholas 
Jencks, Jeremiah Sayles, Capt. Mallory and his seven sons, . 
Seth Curtis, Daniel Madison, Joseph Yaw, Amos Rathbone, 
Eliphalet Jackson, James Green, Sylvanus Sayles, Daniel 
Cooledge, Isaac Cooledge, Roger Brooks, Robert Brown, 
Solomon Brown, Thomas Tuttle, Jesse Tuttle, Isaiah 
Booth, Jesse Clark. 

When the company of pioneers were near the end of 
their journey, they encamped for the night in the woods 
just outside the Nelson Hue. The families of Jedediah 



620 MADISON COUNTY. 

Jackson and Rufus Wever were camped together. Early- 
next morning two young ladies of the party, one a daughter 
Mr. Jackson, the other of Mr. Wever, each resolved to be 
the first to enter the new town. These active young women 
had a lively foot race till they came to a stream bridged 
only by a log. Neither paused for ceremony, for on the 
other side of the " rolling flood " before them, lay the soil of 
the, new township, which each with flying feet was striving 
to be the first to reach. Miss Jackson succeeded in getting 
upon the log first by just one step ; but Miss Wever, agile 
as any wild denizen of those primitive woods, sprang also 
upon the log. pushed her rival off", and with swift steps 
gained the opposite shore. Her gay laugh rang out loud 
and clear as she looked back upon Miss Jackson at the 
other end of the log, whose face was a picture of mingled 
mirth and chagrin. This little incident served to enliven 
the camp, and with cheerful hearts the company went on 
and took possession of the unbroken forest of Nelson. 
■ Miss Wever afterwards became the wife of Nathan Smith, 
and Miss Jackson the wife of David Fay. Rufus Wever 
jr., now living, was an infant one year old when his father 
came on with this company of settlers. 

Rufus Wever's first purchase in the State of New York, 
was a large farm where Utica now stands, which he bought 
of the patroon of Albany, Stephen Van Rensselaer, with- 
out previously seeing it. On going to it to take possession, 
he found that an old man had "squatted" upon it. Not 
wishing to drive him off, he went back to Van Rensselaer 
and offered to give up his claim if he could have his money 
back. This was done, and thus Mr. Wever let a splendid 
bargain pass from his hands. So, with his money, he came 
on with his former neighbors to Nelson. He had a large 
family,* who settled around him. His large farm is now 

*From an ancient record, copied from the Town Register of Pownal, Vermont, 
we have the following statement of the births of the children of Rufus Wever 
«nd Hannah, his wife, pioneers : — "Mary, born June 17, 1770; Hannah, born May 
II, 1772; Elizabeth, born March 4, 1774; Orrilla, born March 31, 1777; Debo- 



NELSON, 62 1 

owned by his son Rufus, and the first frame house he built 
— probably the oldest frame house now standing in Nelson 
—is still the home of this son. 

Jedediah Jackson located on the hill, a short distance 
west of the Flats ; here he built the first tavern, which 
was also the first frame house of the town. Ft was a large fine 
building for those days. When the turnpike, which passed 
his house, was changed in its course, he converted it into a 
frame house, where he spent the remainder of his years. 

Joseph Yaw located west of the center. He was a cap- 
tain of Militia, a Justice of the Peace, a man of position 
and highly respected. 

Roger Brooks was probably the first cabinet maker of the 
town. Many articles of his handicraft, rare specimens of 
mechanism, are still doing service in the homes of the old 
families. He was a substantial citizen, whom all respected 
and loved ; hence was a valued member of the new set- 
tlement. 

Daniel Adams, who settled north of the Flats, was a 
prominent citizen and useful man in all stations he was 

called to fill. 

Asahel Jackson was another of the prominent and 
useful men of Nelson in the early days, both in town and 

county. 

Joseph, Chauncey, and David Case, brothers, came from 
the town of Simsbury, Hartford County, Conn., at or near 
the beginning of the present century. They located in the 
then unbroken wilderness, in the west part of the town, 
where they gradually developed large farms, Joseph and 
Chauncey occupying the homesteads of their own founding 

.ah, born Aug. a6. 1781 ; Sarah, born June 9. ^jH^^^^^^, ]lZ'^''Lnt!:'\ll 
Rulus, born Ly ., I793; ^ Of these arah ^.e May 6 ^jj^^.^^_ 
Kite of Archibald Bates, died Jan 22, '^^^'M-iry married r^ ^ j , ^^^^^^ 

beth married David Nichols ; Orr.Ua "'"^"'^'l, N"'^'"" J'"" V"^^^ ^,ho wa. 

William Sims, who settled in Cazenova ; Lyd.a ■^-'"'^y "^^P,™, a . ^^,- 
for a time a fa'rmer in this town, who subsequently ['--^^^ °^™;:',i.„eer 
jr., married Amy Smith, and lives on the homestead. Ruius Wcver, F 

was born in 1746, and died in 1 8 14. 



622 MADISON COUNTY. 

till their deaths. Joseph died in 1855, aged 89 years ; 
Chauncey in i860, aged S6 years. David Case still (1872,) 
resides on the farm he first purchased, in his 94th year. 
These three men were present at the meeting to organize 
the town of Nelson ; they were highly respected, valued, 
and useful citizens. Lester and J. Milton Case, sons of 
Joseph Case, reside in Cazenovia. The former was a mem- 
ber of the Legislature in 1858, and also a member of the 
Constitutional Convention in 1867 nnd '68. Luna, daugh- 
ter of Joseph Case, married Mr. Geo. Garrett, and resided 
in Wisconsin till her death, which occurred recently. 

William Knox and David Hamilton, brothers-in-law, 
came early, and took up adjoining farms in the east part of 
the town. They were from Blandford, Mass. Quite a lit- 
tle colony came from the same place soon after — probably 
about 1805 — among whom were the Simons, Blairs, Stim- 
sons, and John Knox, a brother of William. John Knox, 
on his arrival, took the farm first located by his brother. 
Mr. C. D. Knox is on the farm originally taken up by his 
father, and S. W. Hamilton, son of David, also succeeds to 
the paternal homestead. 

William Knox moved from Blandford in the winter, with 
one horse and an ox team, and was fourteen days on the 
journey. Mrs. Knox, during the journey, knit a pair of 
cotton stockings in the long evenings where they stopped 
for the night, which are still in existence. When they ar- 
rived in Township No. i, they were obliged to proceed the 
rest of the way to their location by marked trees. The young 
wife — they had been but a short time married — was very 
homesick ; she could not readily become reconciled to their 
forest home. Every surrounding was uncongenial ; the 
snow-laden forest was all around their log cabin, the woods 
so dense that many trees could be counted, looking from the 
broad fire-place upward through the ample chimney top ; 
the comforts of life were few, and as to society, there was 
scarcely any availably near, in the depths of winter. She 



NELSON. 623 

often related how her heart was cheered 07ie night by the 
sound of sleigh bells ; a riding party from Cazenovia had 
lost their way in the woods, and drove past their door. An 
angel's visit could not have been more opportune than was 
the jingling of those bells in the quiet night time to the 
homesick woman. 

EARLY ENTERPRISES. 

On one of the head branches of the Chittenango, some 
distance north of Erieville, the first grist mill was built by 
a Mr. Annas. Oliver Pool afterwards became the owner of 
this mill, and moved it a short distance to lengthen the 
dyke. Subsequently he built a new mill upon the same 
stream near by. 

One of the first taverns of the town was kept by Luther 
Doolittle in the northeast quarter, about 1800. It was not 
a very pretentious institution, being a log structure, with 
barn, &c., attached. There is nothing now on the site. 
Another inn was built by Eldad Richardson, on " Eagle Hill," 
not long ofter 1800. For years, the tall Lombardy poplars, 
which stood so conspicuously against the sky upon that 
lofty height, in front of the hostelry, seemed literally to 
beckon the way-worn traveler, bound west, onward, and up 
the sharp acclivity, inviting him to refreshments and rest 
beneath their shadow. To those who had once traversed 
the Skaneateles Turnpike over Eagle Hill, these trees, seen 
afar, were an assurnace of wayside comforts at hand. We 
ought to add, however, that Richardson's first tavern here 
was a log building, with limited conveniences ; the bar- 
room, dining-room and parlor being one and the same. 

The first store in town was kept by Eliphalet Jackson, 
in a small log house at Nelson Flats, on the west side of 
the swamp, and a little way on the ascending ground— near 
Lot No. 20 The second store was kept by Jacob Tucker- 
man, sen., in a log building in Erieville. A Mr. Mallory 
built the first frame tavern building where the present one 
stands, and Tuckerman succeeded him as landlord. En 



624 MADISON COUNTY, 

Richardson, (one of the five brothers,) succeeded Tucker- 
man, and as a token of the esteem in which he was held by 
the citizens, his name was in part given to the little ville, 
which was at that time growing in importance. Thereafter, 
Erieville * became one of the well and widely known points 
on the Skaneateles Turnpike. The present hotel was built 
by Thomas Medbury about 1820. 

Previous to 18 1 5, James Tinsler built a saw mill on the 
lot now owned by Mr. Wightman, on the turnpike, nearly 
half way from Erieville to Woodstock, About 18 16, he 
also built a tavern at the same point. He had previously 
had a tavern and grocery building here, which stood upon 
the same site and was kept by a Mr. Powers. These men, 
however, were not the first here ; a man by the name of 
Green kept this inn and grocery a number of years before 
them. Tinsler moved into his new tavern and became his 
own landlord. 



In 1796, five brothers — Eldad, Eri, Lemuel, Asa and 
Benjamin Richardson — came in from New Hampshire, and 
settled in and near where Erieville now is. About the 
same date, or a little later, John Hamilton, sen., and his six 
sons, Moses Smith, Ezra and Isaac Lovejoy, Erastus Grover, 
Asa Carey, Haven White, Richard Wilbur and Enos Cha- 
pin came in and settled in different localities in this town. 
Many of these were from Massachusetts. Joshua, Robert 
and Garner Wells, came about 1798, and settled on the hill 
above " Pool's Mills." William and Joseph Sims, brothers 
of Horatio, also settled in this town and Cazenovia. Jere- 
miah Clark located north of Erieville. He built the first 
saw mill about 1800 ; it stood where now is the outlet of 
the Erieville Reservoir. Israel Patterson and Oliver Stone 
located in the south part of the town ; Richard Karley in 
the northeast quarter ; AbnerCamp in the southeast corner. 
Camp's location being so near the Eaton line, and " Camp's 

* Should have been originally written "Eriville." 



NELSON. 625 

Pond" being within the town of Eaton, a sketch of him is 
given in that town. The Hopkins also in the southeast 
part, are mentioned in the Eaton chapter, David WelHno-- 
ton settled on Lot 137, near the Eaton Brook Reservoir, 
in 1797. Thomas Ackley and Benjamin Hatch, from Plain- 
field, Otsego County, settled in the same locality. Aaron 
Lindsley, Moses and Solomon Clark, Jesse, Abner and 
Seth Bump, came previous to 1800, the three Bump broth- 
ers settling in the most northern part of the town. Cal- 
vin Farnam came in from the Mohawk country at an early 
date. Luke Jennings, from Long Island, settled on the 
farm now owned by John Clark, opposite the Nelson Rich- 
ardson place. Isaiah and Ezra Booth, came from Conway, 
Conn., in April, 180O ; Ezra located on the north half of 
the lot now owned by his grandson, Levi Booth, on the 
State Road in the neighborhood of the Welsh meeting 
house. 

Judge Ebenezer Lyon and his wife Chloe, came from 
Wallingford, Vt., and located on Lots No, 78 and 79, in 
Nelson, in 1794. He was one of the first Judges of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Madison Co., his term of office 
being in the years 1806, '07, '08 and '09. He was also 
Supervisor for fifteen years. Judge Lyon lived the remain- 
der of his life on the farm he first took up. His son, 
Ekphas Lyon, lived there after him. The original frame 
house he built is still standing. In his neighborhood there 
are three of those old mansions standing which were built 
when the country was new. These belong to the families 
of Lyon, Burton and Card. 

Jeremiah Blair was one of the early settlers in this town 
and his descendants still reside here. Matthew Blair set- 
tled in the Knox neighborhood. The Blairs were from 
Blandford, Mass, 

Jesse Carpenter from Wooster, Mass., settled in Erieville, 
in 1808. Elijah and William, his sons, settled here also, 
the latter subsequently moved to Ohio, while Elijah re- 

N2 



626 MADISON COUNTY. 

mained in Erieville. From Jesse, the Carpenters of Nelson 
have descended.* 

It has been stated that the first death r,f a white person 
in Nelson was that of Mrs. Bishop, which occurred in 1800. 
This may be a mistake, as a stone in the Lyon Cemetery 
bears the name of " Anna, wife of Daniel Constine, who 
died May 15, I795-" 

David Wellington came into this town about 1797, from 
Cheshire, N. H., with a pack of clothing, constituting all his 
earthly goods, upon his back. He selected his Lot — No. 
137, now occupied by Isaac Blair, — in the section now bor- 
dering on the West Eaton Reservoir, making his purchase 
of John Lincklaen. Here he cleared one acre of land, 
got in the area to wheat, built him a log house, and then 
returned to Cheshire and brought on his wife. Both were 
poor but they had a large fund of common sense, were en- 
dowed with physical health, strength and activity, and were 
skilled farmers of that day. Their log house was shingled 
with elm bark, the floor was split logs, leveled off with the 
ax ; the door was the only part of the house made of sawed 
lumber, which was hung on wooden hinges, and its leath- 
ern latch-string was pulled in every night. Joshua Wells, 
also of Cheshire, came on to Nelson with an ox sled, in the 
first winter of Wellington's house keeping, and stopped at 
Wellington's house for a time ; and here was born the first 
white child in Nelson — Palmer, eldest son of Joshua Wells, 
in 1 798. Also during the same year was born Mr. Wel- 
lington's oldest child, Lucy, who in process of time, became 
the wife of Silas Hopkins. David Wellington was the first 
Justice of the Peace in Nelson, which position he held for 
about twenty years. He was a man of good judgment, capa- 
ble of seeing the right and the wrong of an issue, clearly. 

Job Wood, Samuel Salisbury and Benjamin Wadsworth 

* Dr. Carpenter of Erieville, and Alpheus Carpenter a noted mechanic engaged 
upon the railroads of Michigan, are of this family. The Harris' family among whom 
are Dr. Harris and Rev. Mr. Harris of Georgetown, are descendants of Jesse Carpen- 
ter. 



NELSON, 5^^ 

came in from Bennington, Vermont, in 1802. Wadsworth 
and one of the other men alternately managed the team, 
which consisted of eight yoke of oxen and one horse. To 
this unusual team was attached a vehicle, quite as unusual ■ 
two pair of ox-cart wheels, heavy axles, a long reach, and 
an enormous hay-rack, constituted it! It was loaded with 
hay, cornstalks, corn, &c., on which this long array of cattle 
were to subsist on their journey ; also, underneath the mass 
of forage was stowed away provisions, axes, log-chains, va- 
rious tools, &c., for use in the new country. Mr. Wads- 
worth was a lad but 16 years of age when he arrived in 
Nelson. He is still living, at the great age of 86, and is 
fond of indulging in the comparison of the traveling speed 
of to-day with seventy years ago ; it took him seventeen 
days and a half to reach here with his oxen and cart ; a 
journey which can now be performed " between sun and 
sun." 

Eber Sweet, from Schoharie County, was an early settler 
near the " Temple." Richard Salisbury and Alonzo Morse, 
two pioneers, married daughters of Mr. Sweet ; he also had 
sons who located near him, all of whom are now dead. 

Simeon Hascall came to Nelson Irom Granville, Hart- 
ford Co., Conn., in 1799. ^^ reared a large family, which 
became scattered, though some of his descendants are 
located in different parts of the county. There is an 
anecdote related of his two daughters, which was con- 
firmed by Mrs. Sally White, one of the two, who often 
related it, to her childern during her life time: — When 
settlements were sparse and Nelson nearly all woods, these 
yound ladies went some distance through the forest to a 
" quilting," starting for home in the evening. There was no 
moon ; the woods soon became so dark that neither they 
nor their horse upon which they both rode could keep the 
path, and consequently they became bewildered. They 
therefore decided that the wiser course would be to climb a 
tree and remain for the night. Tying their horse to a 



528 MADISON COUNTY, 

sapling, they ascended a tree near by and clasped in each 
other's arms, clinging in the same embrace to some of the 
lateral limbs, they spent all those long, anxious hours to 
daybreak. Their horse in the meantime got loose and 
found his own way home. After his departure, the girls 
distinctly heard the movements of some animal at the foot of 
their tree, which, after snuffing about awhile went away, evi- 
dently not very hungry. Morning at length relieved their 
vigils, and they found their home easily ; but from that 
day till their death they vividly remembered that old 
fashioned quilting, and the old time iorests without roads. 

Sally Hascall married Mr. Amos White, an early settler 
of Nel.-on, from Spencer, Worcester County, Mass. They 
were married June 24. 1804, when she was at the age of 18, 
Jonas and Cyrenus White, of Eaton, are their sons. These 
pioneers removed from here to Alleghany County, N. Y., 
and were long ago laid to rest. 

Mr. Abijah Hyatt was first a settler in Nelson, where he 
reared a family of eleven children, who have nearly all lo- 
cated themselves in Madison County. His sons settled in 
Fenner as farmers, and were prominent in society. Mr. 
Hyatt was a leading man in the M. E. Church of Nelson 
Flats, and was beloved and respected. Francis A., son of 
Aaron Hyatt, is his grandson. 

Dea. Palmer Baldwin was an early resident in Nelson 
Flats. He took a conspicuous part in the busy scenes of 
active life, was distinguished for his strict integrity, straight- 
forward, honorable dealing, and general usefulness. He en- 
joyed through his lifetime the confidence and esteem of 
community. Mrs. Baldwin was also extensively known, re- 
spected and beloved, and her influence in the society in 
which she moved, was of a tendency to elevate and purify. 

Francis Norton came from Connecticut to Cazenovia in 
1800, and about 18 10 or '12, removed to the south part of 
Nelson, settling on the farm which is now owned by Daniel 
Moore. His large family are settled in this and adjacent 



]flELSON. 52Q 

towns. One of its members, Davis Norton, was well 
known for many years as Deputy Sheriff ; he also held 
other offices. Francis Norton, jr., has been for several 
terms a Justice of the Peace. Joseph Norton, another 
member of this family, is a lawyer of ability and influence. 
In the family burial ground, upon the old Norton farm, for 
many years could be seen the quaint head-stones so gener- 
ally in use fifty years and more ago. 



Nelson early became most exemplary in her zeal to pro- 
mote the cause of religion, which \i , no doubt, the founda- 
tion of all that sobriety and conservatism which has ever 
characterized this people. As early as the year 1800, many 
of these children of puritanical New England, felt the want 
of a leader to institute an organized band of the followers 
of Christ, to resist the insiduous approaches of sin and 
folly, which was making its way into the new settlement. In 
the absence of religious services, the Sabbath was fast de- 
generating into a day of visiting, amusement and recre- 
ation. 

In the northeast " Quarter," which was earliest settled, 
this religious movement first began, and such men as 
Aaron Lindsley, Deacon Moses Smith, Josiah Booth, 
Luther Doolittle, Jedediah Jackson, Thomas Tuttle, and 
others, of this, then quite numerous settlement, set about 
the good work, and obtaining the services of Elder Calvin 
Keys, a reformation preacher of some note, from Massa- 
chusetts, they organized a society. Meetings were held 
for a season in their primitive log tenements, but in a short 
time their congregations became too large to be contained 
in these humble temples of worship. Then the forest, 
God's own beautiful temple, became the place of rendez- 
vous, whose heavenly arches and deep *' sounding aisles" 
rang with the full chorus of male and female voices in their 
songs of praise. 

Our ancestors had a most novel mode of conducting 



630 MADISON COUNTY. 

their singing, which arose from the emergencies of the 
time, there being a scarcity of hymn books — perhaps not 
more than one to the congregation. After the reading of 
the hymn, the chorister, or person who pitched the tune, 
" lined" the verses, i. e. read the two first lines, when they 
were sung by the congregation, then read the next two 
lines, and these were sung, and so on to the end of the 
hymn. In this manner the lengthy hymns were made 
lengthier still, and the cadences of their voices, though 
untrained in the operatic school, rose and fell harmoniously,, 
and vibrated with the melody of the heart, attuned in har- 
mony with the overflowing music of the voices of the 
grand and free nature all about them. Shall we say that 
such praise was less acceptable to God than the more 
studied musical eloquence of to-day .-' 

These seasons of religious refreshment created the great- 
est harmony and good will among them. 

Their congregations were made up from the inhabitants, 
at a distance of six or seven miles around, and were collect- 
ed in a manner evincing their zeal. The farmer who own- 
ed the best team, (oxen, of course,) of each street or neigh- 
borhood, attached them to his cart or sled, as the season 
might be, and commencing with his own neighborhood, 
took in all who wished — and these were usually all who 
could be spared from home — to go. As they journeyed on 
toward the place of meeting, every habitation on the road 
was hailed, for additions to their numbers. Should these 
increase beyond the capacity of conveyance, the men and 
boys gaily gave their places in the ox-cart for the accommo- 
dation of women and children, and, moving forward, a stur- 
dy group of men and lads, they soon out-distanced the 
lumbering movements of the patient oxen. 

In this manner, from a wide section were assembled con- 
gregations, which for size would handsomely grace the 
churches of our largest villages. 

Did the weather prohibit a meeting within the verdant 



NELSON. 5-, J 

carpeted and green roofed temple of the forest, then the 
spacious and commodious barns, which the settlers in their 
prosperity were beginning to erect, were dedicated, as it 
were, to the service of God. The first frame barn said to 
have been built in the town of Nelson, was situated on 
Cooledge street, now "Tog Hill," in which a series of meet- 
ings were held. 

So earnestly did these people hunger and thirst for the 
" bread of life," that, in the absence of a minister to dis- 
pense religious services to them, some worthy member of 
the society was appointed to conduct them, and read a 
printed sermon which was sent them for that purpose, 
Mr. Daniel Butler, a most exemplary and worthy christian, 
was often required to perform this duty. His name stands 
most familiar, among others who equally performed their 
duties here, owing to his lamentable death from an 
accident which occurred immediately after one of these 
ministrations, and which caused a shadow of deep sorrow 
and gloom to pervade the community. The circumstances 
were as follows : — On this Sabbath the services had been 
held in Mr. Butler's barn and from his lips the sermon had 
been read to an attentive audience. Earnestly and devot- 
edly were the concluding services performed by him, who, 
though in a subdued frame of mind, yet little knew how 
short was the span of his usefulness, — how near he was to 
the verge of the river over which he must soon pass. 
Quietly withdrew the serious congregation, while Mr. 
Butler remained to perform a few temporal labors of the 
closing day. Mr. Butler, though laboring spiritually for the 
flock of Christ on the Sabbath, yet labored for his temporal 
needs, and cared for all of God's creatures under his pro- 
tection. For this purpose, immediately after the congrega- 
tion had dispersed, he ascended the scaffold of his barn, and 
threw down the hay with which to feed his herd for the 
night. By some fatal misstep in his attempt to jump from 
the scaffold, he was precipitated upon the tines of his pitch- 



632 ' MADISON COUNTY. 

fork, which entered his body. He was removed to his 
dwelHng in the most excruciating agony, and after two days' 
suffering, death kindly released him. 

Death in any form, was, if possible, something more 
terrible to the whole community in that day than now, 
owing to the warm social family interest the pioneers felt 
for each other ; but when the dread messenger came in an 
aggravated form, the whole people felt the shock. There- 
fore was Mr. Butler's loss deplored by everybody, and never 
was his last ministrations or his untimely death erased from 
the affectionate remembrance of his friends. This is said 
to have been the second death by accident which had 
occurred in the early settlement of the town. 

The southern part of the town, in the district of Erie- 
ville, was only second in date in its church organizations, 
and, if possible, seemed to out-do her sister settlements 
in her religious growth. The first temple built and set 
apart for religious services, was erected there by the Bap- 
tist Society. This was the beginning of a permanent soci- 
ety, which should make its impress upon the rising destiny 
of Erieville. Had we space to record its progress, or to 
devote to the other religious organizations which have 
sprung up and become permanently incorporated into the 
history of Erieville, the record would prove this as a pre- 
eminently religious community. 

Notwithstanding the even tenor of life which their relig- 
ious character was marking out for them, they did not omit 
the social amenities of life. Their neighborly " logging 
bees " came off regularly, when the men of the neighbor- 
hood turned out en masse, and took turns in helping each 
other to log up their clearings, and the women all visited 
his wife, making it a holiday. After the log piles were all 
completed, and tea had been served, how gaily fiew the 
short hours spent together among those who had been old 
friends in the land of their nativity, and were now bound 
together by the ties which held them to their native country. 



NELSON. 5-7 o 

and those of a common interest in the land of their adop- 
tion. How interestedly conversed the men of the number, 
quality and condition of their stock, the extent of their land 
clearings, the profit of their crops, (exceedingly small, it 
would seem to us,) their prospects for improvements in lands 
and in buildings, and finally for society organizations and 
government. All these unfoldings of the plans of each to 
the other, stimulated each one to a healthy spirit of emula- 
tion and final success. 

While this was transpiring among the men, the women are 
chatting of their manufacture of linen and wool, while their 
clever hostess has perhaps taken them up the ladder into 
her low-roofed chamber, to display to them her stores for 
the coming winter. 

These consist of maple sugar and dried pumpkin, the 
only luxuries they could eke from their forest home at that 
early day. The former is stored in a section of a white 
maple tree, which had originally been hollow, and had been 
nicely scooped out in the form of a cask. The latter are 
dried in great rings, and are bundled together and hung up. 
At one end of this one-roomed chamber, stands the lum- 
bering loom, which is looked upon as a specimen of good 
workmanship, having been constructed by the lady's clever 
husband ; and from a large chest she now proceeds to draw 
forth the trophies of her handiwork from that identical 
Joom. My readers are no doubt familiar with the style of 
the linen and woolen fabrics woven by our grandmothers, 
which were also of the kind she now has produced. But 
there is in the till of this chest, which came with her from 
the far-off "down east," something which more than all else 
attracts the attention of all. The treasured mementoes of 
the dear old home are there ; the little trinkets, the locks of 
hair, a few choice books, lead their thoughts and conversa- 
tion into a different channel, and then tender reminiscences 
are discussed, mingled with desires that their children 
might have some of the advantages which it had been their 



634 MADISON COUNTY. 

privilege to enjoy in a land of learning and progress. The 
subject of schools is earnestly discussed by these mothers, 
and the advent of a teacher from the East is an event hailed 
with no small pleasure. 



The dangers and anxieties incident to this life were not 
few, and not the least formidable of these dangers arose 
from the daring encroachments of wild beasts. Encount- 
ers with these savage animals were quite common, and 
there were instances where their ferocity proved too much 
for the agility and strength of the hunters. A circum- 
stance of this kind took place in the northern part of the 
town, in August, 1802, which produced much excitement 
in this and the adjacent towns. 

The tracks of a very large bear had been seen in the 
vicinity of the house of Jesse and Abner Bump, in the 
northeast quarter. Abner Bump was a bachelor residing 
with his brother Jesse's family. It was on Saturday after- 
noon, the farm work for the week being done, and there 
was leisure for hunting ; they, therefore, resolved to follow 
up the trail of the animal, whose tracks they had seen 
quite fresh in the morning, and the fact that their flocks 
and corn fields were in danger of depredations from this 
bold desperado made its necessary to arrest its progress. 
Accordingly they started in pursuit, following the track in 
the direction of the Chittenango (Chittenning as it was 
called) Creek, and near the town line adjoining Fenner they 
overtook Mistress Bruin while following a tributary of the 
Creek. She was a splendid animal, in a condition of flesh 
which betokened her familiarity with the farmers* flocks and 
crops — of magnificent proportions, and moved along with 
perfect ease and fearlessness after beholding her pursuers. 
The hunters lost no time to avail themselves of this oppor- 
tunity for attack. Jesse at once fired and wounded the 
bear, which so exasperated her that she turned, and exhib- 
ited signs of fighting. No time was now to be lost, as they 



NELSON. 635 

were very near the enraged animal, and both men were 
conscious that their success or safety, depended upon the 
surety of Abner's shot. Instantly, Abner, though in a 
bad position to make a fatal shot, raised his piece and 
aimed directly at her side, hoping thereby to cripple her, 
and thus keep her at bay till his brother could reload. Un- 
fortunately, the gun missed fire, and the infuriated beast 
was upon him in a moment, hurling her massive body 
against him with such force that he was precipitated upon 
his face in the bed of the shallow stream, which was close 
by. Simultaneously the bear sprang upon him, and with 
her huge tusks commenced the fearful work of tearing him 
in pieces. All this had been acted in a very short space of 
time, and so quickly, that Jesse, instead of finishing reload- 
ing, had only time to grasp a club and make a leap upon 
the bear the next instant after she sprang upon her victim. 
His blows with the club fell heavily upon the unflinching 
animal's head and nose, while fiercely tugging at Abner's 
bleeding scalp, but the weapon was rotten and broke, and 
fell from his grasp. The sight of his brother's bared skull 
nerved him to greater energy, and as the monster's fury 
had so increased on tasting human blood, that she seemed 
oblivious to the assailant's attacks, he was enabled to thrust 
one hand suddenly between her jaws, as she opened them 
in her fiendish repast, and instantly closed his fingers with 
a vice-like grasp around her tongue, and drew it savagely 
forth from her mouth, while with the other hand he caught 
a stone from the creek, with which, heavy and well-directed 
blows were dealt on the nose of the now cowering brute 
A few ineffectual struggles and endeavors to get free, and 
the bear, overcome by pain and the extreme heat of the 
sultry day, fell back exhausted and motionless. Releasing 
his hold, Jesse turned to his brother, who lay insensible, his 
head in a fearfully mangled condition. As soon as the bear 
had recovered herself sufficiently, she crawled a few rods 
away and lay down a short time in the stream. Anxious 



636 MADISON COUNTY. 

for his brother's Hfe, Jesse Bump made no attempt to arrest 
the anhiial's retreat, which she soon effected. His histy 
shouts for assistance were soon answered by the arrival of 
some of the settlers, but by this time he found himself 
scarcely able to walk, and upon examination his leg was 
found to have been broken by a crushing wrench of the 
vicious beast's jaws. At what time this occurred during 
the exciting battle he could never tell. However, there 
was no disputing the fact, as the proofs were there in the 
marks of the teeth upon the limb. His wrist was also bad- 
ly mangled. He was placed upon horseback and carried 
to his family. 

Abner was aroused to consciousness by stimulants, but 
before the means for removing one in so dangerous a con- 
dition could be got together, it was night, while the distance 
to any habitation was considerable, and the way through 
the forest very rough ; it was, therefore, decided to remain 
with Abner upon the ground, and make him as comfortable 
as possible through the night. The use of stimulants pre- 
vented relapses during the ensuing hours, and very early 
Sabbath morning, the news having spread like wildfire, the 
woods were thronging with people who had come from 
miles around, the anxious neighbors hastening to render 
all the assistance in their power, and the suffering, dis- 
figured victim was carried home on a "litter." The servi- 
ces of Dr. Jonas Fay, of Cazenovia, was immediately pro- 
cured, who removed the mud and debris from beneath the 
scalp, and sewed together the mangled remains. He then 
set Jesse's broken limb, and in due time both hunters re- 
covered from their injuries. 

The destiny of Mistress Bruin was decided a few days 
after this encounter. She met her fate from a bullet, shot 
from a gun in the hands of an Indian hunter, a few miles 
down the creek. She was considered a mammoth prize, 
and a fair trophy of the hunter's superior prowess. 

The first fatal accident which occurred in this town, 



NELSON. 5,- 

happened as follows : — A new road was laid out in the 
northeast quarter, and a large number of men were at work 
cutting a heavy swath of timber through the forest where 
it was to go. At one point, three large trees had been cut, 
but had not yet fallen, being lodged one against the other, 
and all sustained by the spreading branches of a small tree. 
These trees had to be brought down in some manner, and 
the only way to do it seemed to be to cut the small one. 
All saw it to be hazardous, but there were brave darino- 
men in those days ; if any hesitated to encounter the 
danger, two of them did not ; these were, Randall Grover 
and Ezra Booth. They voluntarily marched to the tree 
with their axes. Grover struck just one blow, when down 
came the heavy mass of trees crashing to the ground ! 
Booth barely escaped ; but Grover, probably bewildered, 
sprang two or three steps lengthwise with the trees, instead 
of to one side, and the massive body of one tree crushed 
one side of him into a flattened, shapeless mass ! Booth, 
cried out, "Grover is a dead man ! " The men all rushed to 
the spot and saw that the man was indeed dead. The 
horror that thrilled Booth at that moment was vivid in his 
memory, when, at the advanced age of eighty-three, and 
more than a half century afterwards, he related the event to 
the author. It was but a short time after this relation by 
the aged pioneer that he passed away — on June 3, 1866. 

Another death by accident, somewhat similar to the pre- 
ceding, it falls upon us to record. It happened at an early 
period in the history of the town, yet it is said to be the 
third fatality of the kind : — Wheadon Dutcher had taken a 
ten acre job of clearing, of Isaac Mason. It was in the 
spring of the year, and he had just entered upon the work 
of falling the timber. He went out early as usual, one 
morning to his work, which was within hearing distance 
from the house. Mr. Mason observed that after the first 
tree had fallen, he did not hear the sound of Dutcher's 
ax, which was unusual, and fearing something might be the 



638 MADISON COUNTY, 

matter, hastened over to the spot. To his great dismay he 
found him dead ! Dutcher had cut a basswood, which had 
lodged in a small tree ; it was seen that he had commenced 
cutting the small one, and the basswood had loosened from 
its lodgment, merely from the vibration produced by a few 
blows of the ax and came down, a limb striking him on the 
head, and crushing his skull fearfully ; also, in the shock 
bis ax was somehow hurled against his thigh, laying open 
a deep gash. It was a singular circumstance that in and 
about this ghastly wound of the ax, there was not a drop of 
blood till the body was moved, when it began to flow, and 
continued till every vein seemed to be drained. No signs 
of animation appeared at any time. The circumstances of 
this death created great sensation among the people ; 
especially the copious flowing of blood after death, was held 
to be then (and perhaps is still,) an unaccountable 
phenomenon. 



On one portion of the range of hills, where the three 
Wells brothers settled, one of them, Garner Wells, stocked 
his farm with mules, which gave that particular hill quite a 
notoriety, it being the only place in the country around, 
where any considerable number of those animals were kept. 
The place then received the name of "Jackass Hill ;" but 
afterwards, when the mules were no more to be seen grazing 
on the hillsides, and the rough but coniical jokes, as well 
as the long leathern mule whip of their master had ceased to 
crack, this insignificant cognomen was dropped. There is 
a story related of this locality, as follows : "Elder Tadham, 
"Six Principle" Baptist, had preached at Leeville (West 
Eaton) and was on his way to fill an appointment at Wood- 
stock. At this point he met with the singular accident of 
having his horse frightened by the sudden braying of a 
mule. His horse ran, his wagon broke, and the old man 
was thrown out and considerably bruised. Being from the 
eastern States, he had never before seen that species of do- 



NELSON. (S^g 

mestic animal. As soon as he could, he rose to his feet, 
wiped the mud from his eyes, and after looking at the long 
eared beast with astonishment a full minute, he exclaimed, 
"I don't wonder Jesus Christ was despised, if he rode into 
Jerusalem on such a looking animal as that !" 

In this neighborhood forty years ago, an aged couple by 
the name of Childs, long residents on the town line dividing 
Georgetown and Nelson, died, and were buried in a small 
enclosure in their neighborhood used as a grave yard by the 
early settlers. As that section became more populated and 
developed, other and more eligible places of burial were 
selected, and this one fell into disuse. Two or three years 
since (this ground being included in a farm, and the graves 
nearly obliterated,) the descendants of these aged people, 
living in another part of the country, had their remains dis- 
interred for removal. On being brought to view both bodies 
were found to be in perfect form, with the exception of a 
slightly shrunken appearance ; even the features were recog- 
nizable, though they were changed to that peculiar conditio; 
known as adipocere, sometimes called petrifaction. Thos< 
employed to do the work had only provided themselves with 
a common box as a receptacle for the remains, expecting to 
find only a few bone-, after forty years' interment. The 
box proved far too short for the length of the whole person ; 
no conveniences to supply the want were at hand, time was 
pressing, and the limbs were therefore broken off and 
packed in above the heads and trunks! The location of 
this old time burial place is upon the farm now owned by 
Mrs. A. Holmes. It is supposed that spring water, impreg- 
nated with lime and some mineral, which makes out about 
the place and saturates the soil, furnished the preserving 
qualities which acted upon these human remains. 

INCIDENTS. 

About 1807, a tremendous snow storm occurred, in the 
month of April. The snow fell four feet on the level, and 
lay perfectly still ; an adamantine crust formed upon it, on 



640 MADISON COUNTY. 

which in early morning teams were safely driven. How- 
ever, a succeeding hot sun melted it away in a few days. 
No storm of equal magnitude had occurred at that season of 
the year since the country was settled, and it was remem- 
bered, and is still, by the survivors of that day, as the "Great 
April Snow." * 

In 18 1 3, the fearful epidemic which swept through many 
localities prevailed in this section, and many of the early 
settlers were removed by it from this scene of action. In 
some instances almost entire families were taken away. Dr. 
Heffron, the pioneer physician, rode night and day, and 
through his untiring energy and skillful treatment it is be- 
lieved very many were saved. 

A Reminiscence. — Mrs. Tirzah Holmes, ofDeRuyter, a 
daughter of John Chase, one of the pioneers of Nelson, re- 
members well that her parents started from Hoosick, Rens- 
selaer Co., the day after the "great eclipse" in 1806. When 
they arrived in Nelson at the point now Erieville, Richard- 
son kept tavern and Tuckerman kept a store. The first 
school she attended here was about a mile northwest of 
Erieville, which was held in a barn on the farm of Job Wood. 
The barn is still in existence. Abner Badger was teacher. 
Polly Pool taught the next summer in the house of John 
Chase. 

ERIEVILLE. 

This place was named from Eri Richardson,! one of its long 
ago store-keepers. From the first this has been a place of 
considerable trade. The first store was kept by Tucker- 
man. Smith Dunham was the second merchant here. The 
first considerable enterprise was started by Alpheus Morse 
and Nathaniel Hodskin. They built a furnace and potash 
manufactory, and kept store. After a time, John Elmer, of 

* The author believes this to be the same long ago called the "Hitchcock Snow," 
of which the "wife poisoner" took advantage, supposing the stoim would prevent 
investigation of the murder. A terrible storm prevailed at Madison Centre, where 
he committed the deed. 

•j- See appendix, note p. 



NELSON. 64 1 

DeRuyter, succeeded them in the manufactory of potash, 
who continued the old works. The furnace was in existence 
but a short time. 

Among the merchants of the past were those above 
named, also John Elmer, and George Parmalee. The lat- 
ter had a very good business for some years. Amasa Jack- 
son built and traded on the southeast corner. He was a 
substantial and successful merchant. Norton & Anderson 
were of the later merchants who traded on the northeast 
corner and had a large business. Maynard & Co. are the 
present firm in the same place. Mr. Burgess has also been 
a substantial merchant in this place. Within a few years 
and since the railroad has been opened through here, trade 
has increased. 

The first hotel (the upper,) was built by Eri Richardson. 
About 1830 it belonged to Thom:;s Medbury, who built 
it anew. Afterwards it went again into the hands of the 
Richardsons and for many years was well-known as Rich- 
ardson's tavern. It is now kept by H. Griffin. 

The lower hotel, the "Eldorado House," was built and 
kept by George Saulsbury. He sold to Andrew Hull, who 
kept here for a few years. It has passed through several 
haiKis and is now owned by Stephen Reed. 

Erieville has a good steam saw-mill which was built by 
Palmer Freeborn ; it is doing a large business. One of the 
best cheese-factories in the town is located here, owned and 
operated by Peter Duffy. 

There are three churches in the village,— Baptist, Meth- 
odist and Universalist. 

Nelson Flats is a post village in the northern part of the 
town. The Cherry Valley Turnpike passes through this 
place, and in its early days it was distinguished for its good 
hotels. Several merchants have pursued their calling in this 
place. There are two churches here. This section is dis- 
tinguished for its noble farms, good and substantial farm 
buildings, and fine family mansions of the old style. 
02 



642 MADISON COUNTY, 

In the northeast part of the town are a large number of 
Welsh who have a church of their own. 



Among the prominent and useful men of the early days, 
none were more active than Asahel Jackson and Jedediah 
Jackson. David Wellington stood high in the confidence 
of his towns people, who placed responsible trusts in his 
care. He was the first Justice of the Peace, and held this 
position for many years. Judge Lyon was prominent and 
influential from the first. The Knox's have held positions 
of influence from the beginning of their settlement here to 
the present time. In the south part of the town the 
Richardsons and Nortons, wielded considerable influence. 
Most of those mentioned have zealously cultivated and 
developed the agricultural resources of the town. To the 
number thus animated with a desire to promote the well being 
of society and the interests of their town, may be added the 
names of the Cases, Cards, Burtons, Wevers and Smiths. 

We are wanting the necessary information to give more 
fully sketches of individuals who have thus largely interested 
themselves in the public welfare. We would, however, 
before dissmissing the subject, add to the above list the 
name of Dr. Heffron, the pioneer physician. In his pro- 
fession he was widely known and was remarkably success- 
ful. His success in the great epidemic of 18 13, establishevl 
him here permanently in the confidence of the people. He 
spent many years of a long life in this town, and on his 
death was greatly regretted. Dr. L. P. Greenwood of Erie- 
ville, long known as a man eminent in his profession, was 
once a student with Dr. Heffron, 

We add the subjoined sketch of another of Nelson's 
prominent citizens. 

ALFRED MEDBURY, 

"Died, in Erieville, on the 9th day of August, Alfred Medbury, 
Esq., aged 66 years. 

The subject of this notice was born in New Berlin, N. Y., in 
the j'ear 1806, He moved into Madison Co., in the year 18 18, 



NELSON. 5.^ 

In the year 1835 he was elected Justice of the Peace in the 
town of Nelson, which office he held uninterruptedly, with the 
exception of a single year, until his death. He held the office 
of Associate Justice two terms, and was one of the present 
incumbents. In the year 1844 he was elected to the Assembly. 
During the Rebellion he served the term in the capacity of War 
Committeeman. 

Personally he was a man of social nature, and remarkably 
unassuming. He adhered with firmness to his own opinions 
when established, and regarded the opinions of others with 
respect and courtesy. During the thirty-seven years he held the 
office of Justice of the Peace, his associations with, and business 
transactions for the people, were of such a character as to win 
for himself the highest respect and confidence. In all his 
judicial decisions it was the right that controlled him, rather 
than party or favoritism, and however dissatisfied .any might be 
with the result of cases left for his adjudication, none ever 
ventured the assertion that he acted otherwise than conscien- 
tiously, leaving the results to care for themselves In his legal 
transactions of all kinds, settlement of estates, transfer of real 
estate, writing of wills, agreements and the multitudinous docu- 
ments of like character which he was called upon to prepare, 
it was his personal peculiarity, to make such explanations as 
■would prevent one person, by any trickery or legal quibble, from 
■obtaining advantage of another, without his knowledge. His 
apparent carelessness, and what some have called blundering 
style, has many times cleared away the mist, and exposed a 
legal trap set for the unsuspecting and ignorant. The value of 
such a public servant can hardly be estimated, and his loss will 
be felt not only by his family and friends, but by the entire 
community." 

CHURCHES. 

The Baptist Church of Erieville, was organized in i8ro, 
at the house of Nicholas Brown, Meetings were held dur- 
ing the first summer in the school house near Wellington's 
Tavern. The meeting house was built in 1 821, at a cost of 
$2,000, an expensive house for that period. It is a fine 
building, representing old style architecture. 

The Universalist Church of Erieville, was built in 1842, 
Benjamin Wadsworth, Geo. D. Richardson, Reuel Richard- 
son, George Wells and Nathaniel Davis, building committee 
and proprietors. The society organized, consisted of about 
sixty members. The first minister was Rev. Charles 
Shipman. 



644 MADISON COUNTY. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Erieville. The first 
class of this society, was formed by Rev. Benjamin Pad- 
dock, about 1830, in a school house, nearly two miles west 
of Erieville. Meetings were held by this society in school 
houses and dwellings several years. When the school 
house was built on Main street, meetings were held 
regularly there. About 1850, the society was reorganized, 
when the meeting house was built. Moses L. Kern was 
pastor in charge at that time. John Crawford was the first 
settled pastor. This society belongs to the Nelson Flats' 
charge. 

There have been several different societies in town, which 
have now no existence. Among them may be named the 
old Presbyterian Church, which built the meeting house 
now belonging to the Welsh. 

The old Baptist Church of Nelson also built a meeting 
house, which is located in the east part of the town, sout'.i 
of the turnpike. It is now used for meeting, of various 
denominations. 



SULLIVAN. 



645 



CHAPTER XIV. 



SULLIVAN. 

Boundaries. — Geography. — Ancient Home of the Oneidas. 

Home assigned the Tuscaroras.— The Great Trail. — Traversing 

Armies — Vrooman's Adventure and Its Disastrous Results 

The Nine Pioneer Families of SulUvan. — Destruction of 
Their Homes. — Relics of the Vrooman Expedition. — Lewis 
Dennie. — First Road Through. — State Road and Seneca 
Turnpike. — Various Land Tracts. — Early Settlers. — Sketches 
of Pioneer Experience. — Discovery of Gypsum Beds. — Can- 
aseraga Village. — Its Progress. — Chittenango and Its Early 
Enterprises. — Discovery of Water Lime. — Building up of 
Manufactures. — Polytechny. — First Fourth ot July Celebra- 
tion in Chittenango. — Prominent Men. — Early Railroad Pro- 
jects. — Chittenango Springs. — Bridgeport. — Incidents. — 
Northern Sullivan. — Biographical Sketches of Hon. John B. 
Yates and Others. — Churches. 

Sullivan was formed from Cazenovia, February 22, 1803. 
In 1809, Lenox was formed from Sullivan. The town was 
named after General John Sullivan, who made this section 
famous by his march into the Iroquois country. It is the 
northwest town of the county, and is bounded north by the 
Oneida Lake, east by Lenox, south by Fenner, Cazenovia 
and Onondaga County, and west by Onondaga County. 

The surface of this town is level over something more 
than its northern half; to the southward, hills rise success- 
ively, till they merge into the bights of Fenner, where the 
out look reveals all the great plain of woodland, broken 
with but few clearings, with the lake beyond. Directing the 



646 MADISON COUNTY. 

vision to various points, the villages, the farms, the streams, 
the roads — in fact all the external features of the broad 
town are spread out to view. The soil of the level por- 
tions is strangely analogous to the prairie soil of the west. 
Even the climate of northern Sullivan, as well as the form- 
ation and general aspect of its surface, seems as unlike 
southern Madison County, as if hundreds instead of a 
score or two of miles lay between. Probably no town in 
the county has received, geographically, such decided 
changes as this. Could the departed shades of the ancient 
Oneida chiefs revisit their native homes, they would scarce- 
ly believe that here were their old time fisheries, their well 
stocked hunting grounds, their well trodden trails. The 
arts of the white man have changed everything. Two 
streams with their tributaries, traverse the town, and their 
courses were guides to the hunter and pioneer ; in and 
through these were found the elements of change. The 
Chittenango, or " Chittening" as it used to be called — the 
name given one of these streams by the Indians, signifying, 
" waters divide and run north," — holds good its ancient 
course, save here and there, where some enterprising firm 
or individual has straightened its tortuous way. It is a 
powerful stream, rushing musically down over and among 
its rocks, entering the town at Lot No. 20. O. R.* Not idle 
or listless, the Chittenango applies itself vigorously to the 
use of numerous mills and mechanical works, until, far 
along the level country, it becomes less impetuous, and 
leisurely winds to the westward, gathering volume from 
numerous tributaries, after which it becomes still more 
placid, and passing on, marks the western border line of 
this part of the county. Dense pine forests overshadowed 
it, and decayed trunks of fallen trees, only, bridged its waters 
in the early days. Now the broad sunlight gleams upon 
its rippling surface ; green fields stretch away from its mar- 
gin ; numerous bridges span it here and there. The Erie 

* Oneida Reservation. 



SULLIVAN. 647 

Canal in its acqueduct bed, rests above and across it at one 
point ; the Central railroad trestle bridge spans it at anoth- 
er, the heavy trains crossing, scarcely agitating the calm 
its waters have there found. 

The Canaseraga, receiving the tributaries of numerous 
springs upon the northern slope of the watershed in Fen- 
ner, holds its early pathway over the falls at Perryville, as 
it did eighty years ago, but has changed from the then very 
good sized torrent, to a thin stream, during the summers of 
the last quarter century. Moving across the Canaseraga 
flats, it enters the " Great Swamp," and sluggishly courses 
its way onward. In the midst of the swamp, on Lot 123, 
it is joined by the united streams of the Canastota and 
Cowassalon, (called " Canastota," after the junction,) which 
adds volume and dignity to the black, sluggish, westward 
flowing Canaseraga, trailing through rank shrubbery, 
decaying forests, and among the morasses of the almost 
impenetrable swamp. From the pecuhar shape and form, 
as taken together, of all these tributaries to the main 
stream, and then the graceful curving of the latter on to its 
mouth to complete the figure, the Indians gave it the appro- 
priate name of " Canaseraga," signifying " Big Elkhorn," 
which the whole closely resembles. Until about fortv 
years ago the Canaseraga kept a westward course till it 
reached the Chittenango, where the two united formed a 
stately river, to be poured into Oneida Lake. 

The " Great Marsh " south of Oneida Lake, four or five 
miles wide, extended the whole breadth of Sullivan, and 
mostly of Lenox. The Canaseraga wasted its waters over 
thousands of acres of this swamp ; and over the " Vlaie," or 
"Fly" as it is called; at certain seasons of the year 
the water stood four feet deep.* This Fly was the 
Canaseraga Lake of the old maps. Although this great 
morass lay higher than Oneida Lake, the intervening 

* Mr Austin P. Briggs, of Bridgeport, states that when a boy, 45 y^'" ^go, he 
found fine skating upon the Fly, the water being four feet deep under the ice. 



648 MADISON COUNTY. 

ridge of about a mile in width prevented drainage, and 
many thousand acres were rendered worthless. There 
were those, however, who invested money in this unre- 
claimed land, and in the course of years a plan for their 
recovery was developed. 

Col. Zebulon Douglass, with others, took the work in 
hand, and by appropriations from the State, an artificial 
channel for the Canaseraga was cut through to Oneida 
Lake. The declivity from the point where the Canaseraga 
was tapped, (Lot 1 18,) is sixteen feet to the mile, to Lakeport, 
where a handsome stream pours into the lake. The old 
channel of the Canaseraga wound its course around on the 
northern parts of Lots 18, 19 and 21, and southerly on 
Lots 22 and 1 14 (O. R). It was hoped that the new and 
deep channel would prove quite effectual in draining the 
marsh ; and although the most sanguine expectations were 
not realized, yet a large amount of land has been reclaimed 
by the means, and the swamp exhibits a widely different 
appearance to that presented to the pioneers. The natural 
meadows or Vly,* comprising some 3000 acres in the midst 
of this swamp, became more dry, and although too wet for 
tillage, yet by annual cutting of the wild grass upon por- 
tions of it, the husbandman found that cultivated grasses 
took lodgement in the rich soil. Not a tree or stump de- 
faces the monotonous level of this broad expanse ; its tall, 
rank weeds and coarse grasses, wave like a sea in the wind, 
from out of which is heard the myriad voices of a world of 
insect life ; nothing, it seems to the writer, can exceed the 
loneliness of this region, should one be compelled to con- 
template it long alone. The "Cazenovia and Oneida Lake 
Stone Road," crosses the Vly, and the time will doubtless 
soon arrive, when the domicil of the husbandman will cheer 
the desolate plain. 

When the project ot building a road across the Vly, was 

*"Vly," or "Fly" is the Dutch construction of the word, "Valley." [See 
Valentine's History of New York, p. 72. ^ 



SULLIVAN. g.g 

broached, many inhabitants opposed it, because the town's 
taxes would necessarly be increased. There was a mer- 
chant at Bridgeport, who was the leader and speaker against 
" the impracticable scheme," as he called it, " in which the 
appropriation would be thrown away, — sunk literally, in the 
worthless marsh." He denounced the project and its leaders 
on all possible occasions, and frequently declared in public 
that he "did not want to live longer than the time that 
should see the first wagon cross the Vly." Prominent men 
in Chittenango and vicinity — Robert Riddle, John I. Wal- 
rath, Edward Sims, David Riddle, Jarius French, Thomas 
French and others, — took hold of the work. In winter, 
when the Fly was passable, they explored it, and selected 
their route, and the following summer a party consisting of 
these men and their wives crossed it in a procession of 
wagons ! It is not necessary to describe the many mis- 
haps which the party encountered — the upsetting of vehi- 
cles, the sloughs they were obliged to bridge, the careful 
picking of the way, while the ladies walked or rode as 
the necessities of the case here and there demanded ; 
suffice it to say that jests and jollity seasoned the adven- 
ture through all its perils, and that they crossed the Fly, 
with horses and wagons all safe, reached the Lake Road, 
and in due time arrived in Bridgeport, where, after a sump- 
tuous hotel dinner, the embassy called on the said merchant 
and advised him to prepare the ceremonials for his own 
funeral, as the time he had so often named as the desirable 
one at which to close his earthly existence, had arrived ! 
This joke upon the merchant was fully appreciated by the 
people. The adventure had much to do in gaining the 
appropriation asked of the town, which was two thousand 
five hundred dollars, to be paid in installments of five hun- 
dred dollars yearly. To this was added private subscrip- 
tions, amounting to three thousand dollars more. So the 
road was laid through, which gave access to the reclaimed 
land of the swamp. In 1848, it was improved by planking, 



650 MADISON COUNTY, 

having become a part of the DeRuyter, Cazenovia and 
Oneida Lake Plank Road. Subsequently it was superse- 
ded by the present macadamized road. 

There can be Uttle doubt but that the Fly was once the 
bed of a lake, as the soil to the depth of several feet is 
muck, underlaid with marl, and abounding in shells in per- 
fect form. Vertical stumps three feet below the surface, 
and smaller ones near the surface, indicate that two forests 
have existed there in the ages past, as since the earliest 
inhabitants no timber has been there, and the same verdure 
abounds now as then. The reclaimed lands of the Great 
Swamp, are fast being converted into productive farms, 
while steady encroachments are being made upon the wide 
waste, opening more and more of it to the sun-light ; yet 
there is still a large tract lying useless. Prof Guerdon 
Evans, State Surveyor in 1853, stated the amount of swamp 
lands in Sullivan and Lenox, to be more than fifteen thous- 
and acres. 

Farther into the remote centuries of the past than pen 
has traced, all this region was the home of the Iroquois ; 
but we have record that an English traveler, Wentworth 
Greenhalgh, penetrated this country in 1677, when the 
Oneidas were a nation perhaps not two hundred years old, 
and Oneida Lake was called "Teshiroque," and this land was 
known only as so many leagues of travel between the 
Oneida and Onondaga Indian Villages. The century fol- 
lowing, government agents came occasionally from New 
York and Albany to look after Indian interests, contract 
for peltry and brighten the chain of friendship, and who, in 
their journeys traversed the Great Trail through Sullivan 
and sped in light Indian canoes over Lake Oneida. From 
the date of Greenhalgh's travels, however, through the 
next half century, frequent emissaries of the French 
government, the Jesuits, and sometimes the Jesuit fathers 
themselves, made the denizens of Sullivan's forests, streams, 
plains, morasses and the lake, familiar with their presence. 



SULLIVAN. 6^1 

During the disturbances between the French and English 
nations, wherein the Iroquois was the bone of contention, 
these tribes, exasperated by constant irritation, occasionally 
seized upon white agents and Indian spies and hurried them 
over the familiar trail from one village to the other, to be 
disposed of as their great Sachems in council should decree. 
On the occasion of their grand yearly conventions at the 
central Council Fire, Onondaga, the trail through Sullivan 
bore its share of travel, and Lake Oneida was alive with 
fleets bearing to that convention or council the dusky 
mass of delegates irom the Oneidas, Mohawks, and the 
several remnants of eastern tribes who adhered to the 
skirts of the Confederacy. 

The claims of the 2Cxd refugee Tuscarora nation of South 
Carolina, were canvassed by the Oneida Chiefs during a 
wayside halt for rest on the spot where the unpretentious 
village of Canaseraga now is. These Chiefs, when before 
the august body of Sachems in solemn Congress at Onon- 
daga, laid before it the case of those weak and impoverished 
brethren, with characteristic chivalry and magnanimity, 
extending with one hand brotherly welcome, and with the 
other pointing to their own fair domain said, "our door is 
open, let them enter; our fires burn brightly amid the 
Oneida hills (Stockbridge); there they may warm and rest 
themselves ; nay more — our lands on the Canaseraga are 
smooth and fair ; there they may build their own fire, raise 
their own corn ; our streams are full of fish, our woods, 
with bear and deer ; we say to them abide with us — be 
our younger brothers ;" to which the body of Sachems 
assented, repeating with one voice "be our younger brothers!" 
And so it transpired that in the year 171 2, the Tuscarorans 
were formally adopted into the Confederacy. A part of them 
took up their abode at the home assigned them by the 
Oneidas on the Canaseraga Flats,* where they built their 
stockaded village, which in the time of Sir William John- 

* Many of them, however, located at Stockbridge. 



652 MADISON COUNTY. 

son, between 1750 and '70, was a village of no little impor- 
tance, where Sir William often stopped on his way to the 
annual Indian Congress, and where once, in the year 1769, 
he found the Indians greatly afflicted at the death of a remark- 
able Chief of theOnondagas ; of this occurrence he says: — 
'' I was obliged to perform all the ceremonies on that oc- 
casion." 

Because of the peaceful nature of the Oneidas and Tus- 
caroras, we have not the horrible and bloody record to pro- 
duce for Madison County that marks the history of some 
other sections and localities where the aborigines had their 
home ; yet, as will be seen, our northern border, like cen- 
tral Oneida, had its sanguinary scenes, though chiefly from 
causes not local, from the date of the earliest records to the 
close of the revolution. 

This town being contiguous to Oneida lake and bear- 
ing through its soil the Chittenango and Canaseraga — the 
former stream navigable six miles by batteaux, and both, a 
century ago, navigable some distance farther by the Indian 
canoe and light craft of the white man — has furnished more 
historical incidents connected with the revolutionary strug- 
gle than any other portion of the county. During all the 
\vars with the Indians of New York and the war of the rev- 
olution, numerous fleets in movements of aggression or re- 
treat, moved over Oneida Lake ; and all along the Great 
Trail the solitudes of northern Madison County have often 
resounded to the tread of disciplined white soldiery in battle 
array. The years 1779 and 1780, were memorable ones in 
the history of Central New York, and upon the soil of Sul- 
livan was traced some of the records of those eventful years. 
It was the period when our country was bleeding and groan- 
ing under the repeated outrages and barbarities of the British 
and Indians, such as the massacres of Wyoming and Cherry 
Valley, when Gen. Sullivan was ordered into the country of 
the Six Nations to carry out the plan of retaliation which it had 
become necessary to adopt, in order to weaken the strength 



SULLIVAN. 5c- 

and spirit of the savage enemy. Gen. James Clinton com- 
manded the eastern division of this expedition, and while he 
prepared to descend the Susquehanna and join Gen. Sulli- 
van in the Seneca country by the southern route, he de- 
tailed Col. Van Shaick, assisted by Col. Willett and Major 
Cochran for the one against Onondaga. On the 19th of 
April, 1779, Col. Van Shaick left Fort Stanwix (Rome,) 
with about 550 effective men ; they moved from Fort Stan- 
wix to the Onondaga village in the short space of three days 
notwithstanding the bad, rainy weather, and encountering 
the swollen streams and morasses south of Oneida Lake. 
Col. Van Shaick was successful ; the Indians fled on his 
approach and their wigwam hamlets upon Onondaga Creek 
were speedily devastated. This part of the work of retalia- 
tion accomplished, he returned to Fort Stanwix without the 
loss of a single man. This expedition passed through the 
village of the Oneidas at Oneida Castle, and the village of 
Canaseraga. The Indians at these points, though as a rule 
friendly to the Americans, were yet at times wavering dur- 
ing the successes of the allied enemy. Col. Van Schaick's 
bold and energetic movements reassured them and gave 
them confidence in our armies ; and both tribes — the Onei- 
das and Tuscaroras* — immediately sent deputations to Fort 
Stanwix to renew their promises of faithfulness and to 
biighten the chain of friendship. On the 20th of Septem- 
ber of the same year, Gen. Sullivan, while laying waste the 
Seneca country, dispatched Col. Gansevoort with one 
hundred men to Fort Stanwix ; they were chosen men, and 
were to proceed to the lower Mohawk Castle by the shortest 
route, destroy it, and capture if possible all the Indians 
there. The last clause of the order of Gen. Sullivan read 
thus : — "As your route will be through the Oneida country, 
you are to take particular care that your men do not offer 
the inhabitants the least insult ; and if by accident any 

* At this time a large part of the Tuscaroras resided at their village in Stock- 
bridge, known then as "Tusearora." 



654 MADISON COUNTY. 

damage should be done, you are to make reparation, for 
which I shall stand accountable. From your zeal, activity 
and prudence, I trust every precaution will be taken to exe- 
cute these orders to the advantage and honor of the United 
States." Col. Gansevoort gives the following account of the 
manner in which he executed his mission, wHich is extract- 
ed from his report : — "Agreeable to my orders, I proceeded 
by the shortest route to the lower Mohawk Castle, passing 
through the Tuscarora and Oneida Castles, where every 
mark of hospitality and friendship was shown the party. I 
had the pleasure to find that not the least damage nor in- 
sult was offered any of the inhabitants." 

This " shortest route" from the country of the Senecas 
and Onondagas to Fort Stanwix, was by way of the trail 
before mentioned, passing through south of Oneida Lake. 
It was already a thoroughfare when the first white inhabi- 
tants came to this town. Its course was direct from Onei- 
da Castle to Chittenango, keeping south of the highland 
above the plaster bed of Mr. Patrick, between Canaseraga 
and Chittenango, coming down the hill obliquely near 
where the excavation for the Chittenango railroad of 1836 
was made, and crossed the creek on the body of a large 
sycamore tree, which was lying across the stream as late as 
1804, a little above the turnpike bridge; then passed upon 
the high land above and south of the ravine through which 
the present road passes, to Col. Sage's, once the " Moyer," 
and now known as the " Osgood farm." At this point, was 
seen many years ago, the remains of a stockade inclosure 
and here was also a large Indian Orchard. From the last 
named point it passed on and out of the county at the 
noted " deep spring," the " eastern door" of the Ononda- 
gas. The route of the trail was followed, on the construc- 
tion of the old " State Road," the latter subsequently 
becoming the " Seneca Turpike." 

In the summer of 1780, the year following Gen. Sulli- 
van's campaign, the Indians under Brant, fired up to the 



SULLIVAN. 655 

pitch of madness by the merited devastation of their coun- 
-try, determined upon a campaign which should at least off- 
set the injury done themselves, if it did not result in exter- 
minating the inhabitants of Tryon County. For this pur- 
pose a force of Tories and Indians was collected which inva- 
ded the Mohawk country, carrying devastation through 
that beautilul valley, and destroying, in July, the village of 
Canajoharie. The terrible scenes of Cherry Valley and 
Wyoming were to be re-enactd if possible. In the month 
of October, Sir John Johnson and Brant, collected in great 
secrecy, at LaChien, an island of the St. Lawrence, a mot- 
ley band of about eight hundred men, mainly Canadians 
and Indians, which force, with batteaux well filled with 
stores and ammunition, passed up the St. Lawrence, through 
Lake Ontario, quickly ascended the Oswego river, thence 
forward on the Oneida branch, entered and crossed Oneida 
Lake, and soon reached its southern shore. They then 
passed about six miles up Chittenango Creek and landed 
upon its eastern bank, in the town of Sullivan. There was 
a palisade inclosure here, which had been constructed at 
some former period by the French ; this they immediately 
put in repair. This is, perhaps, a mile south of the junc- 
tion of the Black Creek, (the former Canaseraga,) with the 
Chittenango, at a bend in the latter, and a few rods east ol 
its bank, on a sand hill, where the precise location of the 
palisades is marked at this day. The farm house and barn 
upon Lot No. 5 1 occupy the ground of the inclosure. 

The heaviest boats were moored at the junction, while 
the lighter ones were near the palisades. A sufficient 
j'uard was left to protect the boats and stores, and to hold 
them in readiness for removal at any moment. The body 
then marched to the Scoharie country to join the tories m 
that region. 

The forces now collec<-ed unde.- Johnson, Butler and 
Brant, burned Schoharie the ly^h of October, and on the 
1 8th, burned Caghnewaga. From there they marched to 



656 MADISON COUNTY. 

Canada Creek at Klocksfield, where they halted for the 
night, after having a slight engagement with Gen. Van 
Rensselaer's forces. Early in the morning, Van Rensselaer 
discovered that the enemy had fled during the night, intend- 
ing to reach their boats at the Chittenango by the shortest 
route. Gen. Van Rensselaer pursued as far as Herkimer, 
and from here forwarded an express to Fort Stanwix, in- 
forming the commandant there where the enemy's boats 
were concealed, and ordering Capt. Walter Vrooman, with 
a strong detatchment, to hasten forward to Chittenango 
Creek, and destroy them and the stores. The latter officer 
with a force of fifty men hastened with all possible speed 
to that point, took the guard left there prisoners, destroyed 
the stores and sunk all the boats but two, in which he inten- 
ded to return with his party and prisoners. By some means 
Sir. John Johnson had been notified of this movement, and 
sent a detachment of Butler's rangers with a party of 
Indians to intercept Vrooman, who was by them surprised 
and captured with all his men, while they were at dinner 
preparatory to their embarkation ; they were made prison- 
ers without the opportunity of firing a single gun ! The 
Canadians and Indians were greatly exasperated on finding 
their boats sunk, their stores rifled and destroyed, and two 
pieces of cannon buried under the waters of the creek ; 
they however succeeded in raising some of the boats to 
assist their escape. While the regular troops of the force 
were hastening their arrangements for departure, the savages 
gave vent to their ferocious revenge by torturing the 
prisoners. Three men were massacred ; their blood moist- 
ened the earth where now stands the yeoman's home oi 
peace. A large pine tree standing upon the brow of '* Sand 
Hill" marked the spot of this barbarity, upon which the 
savages engraved the insignia of the tiibe who committed 
the deed — the rude form of a turtle — and which, as a monu- 
ment, stood for half a century afterwards. A fourth prisoner 
was taken across the river into Onondaga, where he was bar- 



SULLIVAN. 5.7 

barously tortured for their fiendish amusement ; he was 
bound at the knees and ankles, and compelled in that cou- 
dition to run the gauntlet of two parallel rows of Indians, 
all armed with clubs, whips and other weapons, each eager 
to get a blow at their victim. He was promised, that should 
he succeed in getting through the line without serious in- 
jury, his life would be spared. Impelled by the powerful 
instinct of self-preservation, and endowed with great muscu- 
lar force, the prisoner made nine extraordinary leaps along 
the line, while all withheld their upraised weapons in 
amazement. At the tenth leap he was struck down, beaten 
with clubs, then tied to a large pine tree and roasted alive ! 
This tree, also having the mark of the " Turtle Tribe," car- 
ved on it, was standing until a few years since, and was 
known as the " Turtle Tree." The miraculous efforts of 
the prisoner created much wonder among the Indians ; the 
impress of his feet in the earth at-each leap, was marked 
and preserved ; and every year, on the anniversary of this 
Indian summer day of blood and barbarity, that tribe made 
a sort of pilgrimage to the spot to examine the tree and re- 
new the carving, and to impress anew the foot-marks in the 
sand. At such times dances were held about the tree, the 
frightful memories of the event were rehearsed in all their 
minuteness, the horrible scene re-enacted in tragic farce ! 
The fleetest and most muscular Indians, in attempts to per- 
forms those leaps, unbound, could scarcely equal them. As 
late as 18 15, these visits were annually made, being distin- 
guished to the last with such wild pow-wows and fiendish 
exultations as seemed sufficient to summon to the scene the 
spirits of the foully murdered, whose blood and ashes min- 
gled with the soil upon which they held carnival ! Captain 
Vrooman,who was a fine specimen of the Mohawk Dutch, was 
made to carry a large pack on his shoulders, placed there by 
the Indian who claimed him as his prisoner. This pack was 
a striped "linsey woolsey" petticoat, stolen from some good 
"vrow" in "Stone Arabia," and was filled with plunder. Its 



P2 



658 MADISON COUNTY. 

weight was taxing his strength to the utmost, when he was 
recognized by Col. Johnson, who enquired why he carried 
it ? Capt Vrooman informed him, when Johnson cut its fas- 
tenings with his sword and let it fall to the ground. In a 
short time the Indian keeper observed it and in great anger 
replaced the burden, threatening death if he refused to bear 
it. They had proceeded but a short distance when Sir 
John again observed the Captain toiling under his load, 
when he again immediately severed it from him and placed 
a guard around him to prevent further insult or injury from 
his captor. In a few minutes the latter re-appeared with 
uplifted tomahawk, threatening vengeance ; but meeting a 
guard of bristling bayonets he sullenly fell in the rear, be- 
ing obliged to shoulder his pack himself. Shortly after- 
wards, while crossing a stream upon a log, this Indian with 
his pack fell into the water and would have drowned but for 
the assistance of his comrades. He, however, held a grudge 
against Capt. Vrooman and watched all the way to Canada 
for a favorable opportunity to execute his threat. On ar- 
riving at Montreal, Vrooman was incarcerated in prison 
where he remained two years. Of his command, who were 
also imprisoned, a portion survived their long years of cap- 
tivity and returned, first, to their homes on the Mohawk ; 
but they remembered the rich and beautiful country south 
of Oneida Lake and to that inviting section they, with their 
families, soon directed their steps. 

In March, 1790, nine families whose heads were of the 
Vrooman party, came to the flats of Canaseraga and erected 
their homes. Their names are given as follows : — Captain 
(afterwards General,) Jacob Seber, Garrett and George Van 
Slyke, John Polsley, John Freemeyer, James and Joseph 
Picard, Jacob, David, and Hon Yost Schuyler. Selecting 
farms adjoining each other, they opened clearings and planted 
and sowed crops. A most fruitful harvest rewarded their 
labors and they were becoming delighted with and attached 
to their new homes ; but, unfortunately, they had locTted' 



SULLIVAN. gcq 

upon the rightful possessions of the Oneida Indians, who 
naturally looked upon them v/ith a jealous eye. At this 
time the opening of the Genesee country to immigration 
drew numbers of white explorers and settlers thitherward, 
who followed the long trodden Indian trail through this por- 
tion of the Oneida Reservation, and too many of them, re- 
membering Indian atrocities, forgot or disregarded' the 
peaceful demeanor of the Oneidas and were guilty of many 
depredations, which irritated the natives far and near. Con- 
sequently, the little company at Canaseraga and their doings 
were watched with suspicion. Day by day the ill will of 
the Indians increased, when,the grievances of the Oneidas be- 
coming unbearable, they laid a statement of their case be- 
fore their long-time friend and counselor, the Rev. Samuel 
Kirkland, Indian Missionary, whose influence prevented 
violence. By his advice they submitted their case to the 
Governor of the State, who ordered the settlers to remove. 
This the latter neglected to do ; and in 1791, the complaint 
being repeated, Col. Colbraith, the Sheriff of Montgomery 
County, (of which this county was then a part,) was sent 
with an armed party of sixty men to dislodge them. The 
steadfast, inflexible Dutch, who had endured the hardships 
of the revolution, were unmoved by entreaties and unawed 
by commands or threats, and refused to submit and remove. 
Col. Colbraith then ordered all the movable effects to be 
taken from their dwellings and placed at a safe distance 
from the scene, and then burned their houses and cabins to 
the ground. Says an eloquent writer* speaking of this 
scene : — "The dream of a permanent home vanished, the 
hardy pioneers, homeless and houseless, were yet indomita- 
ble. Sullenly they watched the smoke driving away from 
their tottering roofs ; the Indians gathered around in quiet 
groups with hearts more full of sorrow for the white man, 
than joy for justice secured them by righteous laws. They 
proved that the savage breast enshrined virtues and princi- 

^^ Guerdon Evans, author of map of Madison County, 1853. 



65o MADISON COUNTS. 

pies not inferior to their white brothers. Their triumph 
was complete and tempered by acts worthy of record. They 
led the discomfited settlers to the grounds near which the 
pleasant village of Chittenango is rising into importance, 
and granted to them under proper arrangements abundant 
space for settlements. Cabins were soon erected — hunting 
and fishing supplied their early wants until the earth could 
yield its abundant stores." 

We extract further from the same writer : — "The present 
Judge Seber, (185 1) was then ten years old, when his 
father's house was destroyed ; this family with a few others 
removed afterwards to Clockville, in the town of Lenox. 
Judge Seber relates an incident connected with the early 
residence of his father's family in Madison County, confirm- 
ing portions of this narrative.* He states that while a bare- 
footed boy, passing through the woods with his father, he 
stepped upon some sharp substance, attracting their atten- 
tion, which upon examination proved to be a bayonet 
attached to a musket, covered by rubbish. Continuing 
their search, a stack of muskets which had fallen to the 
ground was discovered. These relics roused up the 
recollection of Vrooman's adventure, which the old man 
related to his son, seated on a log, with the fragments of 
that expedition then lying at their feet. Alluding to the 
sinking of the boats, he remarked, * they were sunk in the 
creek near this place, let us look for them.' Then rambling 
along the shore of the creek, they found one boat near the 
bank, sunk, appearently filled with sand." 

There was a rumor long prevalent in this section, that in 
the hurry and confusion of escape Sir John Johnson lost his 
military chest containing a large amount of specie, said 
to have fallen into the Canaseraga creek in an attempt 
to cross that stream. Be this as it may, we have the state- 
ment of Robert Carter, one of the old settlers, that at one 
time since he resided here, a party of Canadians came to 

* Much of the accoant of Vrooman's adventure is drawn from Evan'j sketch. 



SULLIVAN. 55j 

this place ostensibly to raise the boats ; they kept their 
operations while engaged, as secret as possible, and were 
silent as to the object of raising them, they being then 
worthless. When they abandoned their project, they com- 
municated to Mr. Carter the fact that the object of their 
search was to obtain the money chest of Sir John Johnson, 
but they had failed to discover it. Seekers after the lost 
treasure have appeared at this place quite recently ; a large 
curb could be seen a few years ago at the Canaseraga outlet 
which had been sunk upon the supposed lucky spot, which 
was used in one of these vain researches. John Adams, 
one of the earliest surveyors on^the southern border of 
Oneida Lake, and the late Judge John Knowles, both of 
whom settled here in 1805, noticed the pickets erected at 
the landing place, and found near there portions of muskets, 
knives, hatchets and bullets ; fragments of the boats have 
long rested among the driftwood on the shores ; all of which 
we mention as interesting relics of the scenes of violence 
which preceded the planting of civilization in Sullivan. 

Many Oneidas as well as Tuscaroras lived at Canaseraga, 
and as it was on the Oneida Reservation travelers called 
this also "Oneida Village." When the first white settlers 
came to Sullivan, there were many Indian houses here, and 
ten or more on the hill west of the creek, where Hiram 
Brown now lives — Lot No. 2. There is something, even 
to this day, about the hills in this vicinity which looks 
particularly romantic ; as if the spirit of untamed nature 
still revelled in her own — especially when autumnal dyes 
have flung their tints over tree, bush and fern, does it re- 
mind one that it was once a favorite abiding place of the 
Indian. All around the village were their cultivated 
patches of ground of two or three acres each, fenced and 
unfenced ; their cattle roamed at will through the forest, 
and kindly enough, on his advent among them, did they 
grant the white man's herds the same privilege. 

The most prominent Indian families at this point, at the 



662 MADISON COUNTY. 

time of its settlement, were the Dennies and Doxtators, 
who owned vast tracts of land in various sections. Lewis 
Dennie, (or Denny, also elsewhere mentioned) the head 
man, a patriarch among them, was of French parentage, 
born upon the Illinois about 1740, and when eighteen years 
old came up in the French war with a French officer to 
fight the Five Nations, and was taken prisoner by the; 
Mohawks, among whom he married. He adopted the In- 
dian customs and became a power among them. By those 
who remember him, Dennie is said to have been a small 
man, not over 5 feet 8 inches in hight, with very light blue 
eyes, but with a voice of great depth and power. 

The Dennys of St. Louis, Mo., are the same family 
to which Lewis Dennie belonged. The manner in which 
the name is spelled has become changed by one family or 
the other. Lewis Dennie had four sons and one daughter, 
John, Jonathan, Martinus, Lewis and Polly. John Den- 
nie kept the first tavern of Canaseraga, and built the first 
frame house there in 1800. His daughter Sally became 
the wife of a very fair and handsome Dutchman, by the 
name of John Garlock ; she was a good woman and very 
wealthy in her own right. One of John Dennie's sons 
was sent to New Hartford to School, but it is said there 
was too much native in him to confine his mind to books. 
John Dennie lost his life in 1807 or '08 by wrestling with a 
Dutchman named Hartman Picard ; it took place at Cana- 
seraga during "general training," an occasion in that day, 
when wrestlers congregated to try their strength, and both 
these men were famous for their prowess in that direction. 
Lewis Dennie's sons were large, finely built, good looking 
men, inheriting a good degree of the physical make-up of 
their mother, who was a large, noble looking woman. She 
was esteemed a very good woman by her white neighbors. 
Martinus Dennie is well remembered for his jest upon his 
race ; — " Me no Indian, only French and squaw !" — which 
he used to repeat frequently. Polly Dennie, the only 



SULLIVAN. 55^ 

daughter of Lewis, was a fine looking girl, quite fair, pos- 
sessing amiable qualities of disposition. She married An- 
gel DeFerriere, a Frenchman, who came to this country 
during the French Revolution, and went first to Cazeno- 
via with Mr. Lincklaen. He was very wealthy, and Mr. 
Dennie was very proud of him, it was said, as a son-in- 
law. 

The first emigrants came by way of the Indian trail, 
but the same year, 1790, in June, James Wadsworth came 
through on his way to the Genesee country, and cut a 
track through wide enough for a wagon ; and by laying 
causeways and bridging streams, made a passable wagon 
road. The State soon made appropriations for this route, 
by which the road was widened and improved, and was 
then called the " State Road," over which emigrant travel 
steadily increased. In a few years the State Road passed 
into the hands of the " Seneca Turnpike Company," and 
still greater appropriations for its improvement were made. 
The road then passed over the high hill called " Canasera- 
ga Hill," southwesterly from Chittenango ; the company 
improved the route by changing it, avoiding many of the 
steep and rough passes on the old road. The new route 
took a more northerly course, diverging from Chittenango, 
the course it follows at the present day. After this com- 
pany took it in hand, it became the famous " Seneca Turn- 
pike," over which a flood of travel poured for many years. 
It was indeed the chief of turnpikes, unrivaled, it was said, 
by any in the Empire State. 

The State purchased the Oneida Reservation, piece by 
piece; hence different tracts were surveyed by difterent 
persons and at various dates, so that great irregularity is 
seen on maps in regard to the numbers of lots. The seeker 
for facts among the map records, would become puzzled 
in the location of lots, were it not that the particular res- 
ervation or purchase is stated in initials with every lot 
mentioned, thus :— Lot No. 24 of G & S. T.. (Gospel and 



664 MADISON COUNTY. 

School Tract,) which can be distinguished on reference to 
a map from Lot No. 24, 2 M. S., (Two Mile Strip.) The 
Oneida Reservation, (designated on records as O. R.,) orig- 
inally embraced the whole of this town, and was named in 
conveyances many years after its cession to the State, as 
the " northwest part of the Oneida Reservation." From 
the year 1797, to the date of its purchase by the State, the 
south boundary of the town was the south line of the Res- 
ervation. The " Two Mile Strip" was purchased of the 
Oneidas from this Reservation. It contains twenty-four 
lots, in four tiers, two tiers lying in the west part of Lenox, 
and two tiers in the east part of Sullivan ; its south border 
is a part of the south line of both towns. To the west of 
Two Mile Strip was a tract of six lots, commonly designa- 
ted as "West of 2 Mile Strip." At a very early date, part 
of this tract was conveyed to the following persons : — " Lot 
No. I to John Van Epps Wemple ; Lot No. 3 to Conrath 
Klock ; Lot No. 4 to John Klock ; Lot No. 5 to Charles 
Kern ; Lot No. 6 to Arnold Ballou." North side of Two 
Mile Strip was a tract of eight lots. In a conveyance reg- 
istered in the Chenango County Clerk's office, date of May 
1 8th, 1803, John Wollaber is named as the purchaser of 
Lot No. I ; also at the same date, John Klock of Lot No. 
4. Each of the lots were 250 acres. Other purchasers of 
this tract were John Schuyler, Lot No 2 ; Sylvanus Seeber, 
Lot No. 6 ; Michael Day, Lot No. 7 ; Joseph Alcott, Jr., 
Lot No. 8. The " Bell Tract," lying each side of the Cen- 
tral railroad, extending from the Canaseraga to the Chitte- 
nango Creek, containing fourteen lots, was purchased by an 
Englishman named Bell. Citizens of Sullivan, desiring to 
purchase this land, sent Dr. Beebe to England for that pur- 
pose, who bought the whole tract, ?nd it became the farms 
of different individuals. North of the Bell tract lay the 
" 40 Rod Strip," purchased of the State by Dr. Jonas Fay, 
Old maps point out several other tracts, one of them known 
as the " Varrick Location," purchased of the State by 



SULLIVAN. 56e 

Richard Varrick,* of New York city, all of which are des- 
ignated on Evan's map of 1853, by the letters ABC 
&c. 

But a few years after the pioneers proper had come in, 
the central part of Sullivan, which the State road had opened, 
was settled by the families of John G. Moyer, John Wal- 
rath, Capt. Timothy Brown, Solomon, David and Joseph 
Beebe, Peter Ehle, Timothy Freeman, David Burton, Wm. 
Miles, John Lower John Keller, Peter Dygart, Ovid 
Weldon, Nicholas Picard, Philip Dayharsh, John Matthews, 
Zebulon Douglass, and Martin Vrooman, of the family of 
Capt. Vrooman. 

The first birth in town was Peggy Schuyler ; the first 
death, a child of David Freemayer. John G. Moyer built 
the first saw mill and grist mill about ahalf mile south of Chit- 
tenango village, near the old distillery. Jacob Schuyler 
kept the first tavern after John Dennie. 

Incidents connected with the above named families and 
of their pioneer life have come to our knowledge, which well 
illustrate the state of the country and some of the experien- 
ces of the inhabitants at that day : — 

Zebulon Douglass came from Columbia County in March, 
1796. On his way he stopped at Utica at the house of 
Clark & Fellows, who were keeping store in a little hut. 
The Seneca Turnpike had not been worked all the way as 
yet, though the line had been laid to Oneida Castle. West 
of the Castle the State Road was exceedingly poor and in 
that month so bad as to be nearly impassable. Douglass 
had been advised to take up land, soon to be in market, 
which lay a mile and a half east ofDennie's ; but being dis- 
couraged on account of bad roads he retraced his steps to 
Westmoreland, stopping there at a friend's for the summer. 
A few months later he decided to again look at the lands of 
Sullivan. Going over the footpath of the Oneidas he found 
the country much dryer than in March, and decided to lo- 

*Rkhard Varrick was mayor of New York in 1789.— Probably the same. 



666 MADISON COUNTY. 

cate. Obtaining board at John Dennie's, he erected a house 
on land east of Canaseraga, and leaving it for a friend to 
finish, returned east for his family, returning with them in 
1797. On reaching their abode they found a floorless and 
chimneyless tenement, Mr. Douglass' friend having neglect- 
ed to finish the dwelling as agreed on ; however, Mr. Doug- 
lass soon made it habitable, and in the clearing he made 
around it got in some early spring crops. His daughter, 
Appalona, was born here in 1799, and was the first white 
child born in this district. In the fall of '99 he opened tav- 
ern keeping here. He added to his farm also from time to 
time until it embraced 365 acres of valuable land. He kept 
the first post office at "Oak Hill." He was also chosen 
Captain- of Militia and passed through several grades to 
Colonel of the regiment, by which title of distinction he was 
afterwards known. The Colonel was an energetic, ambi- 
tious man and devoted himself largely to the improvements 
of the country. 

John Owen French, from Williamsburg, near Northamp- 
ton, Mass.* settled between Canaseraga and Chittenango 
in 1805. 

Jacob Patrick settled in the immediate vicinity before 
1800. He discovered the first plaster bed — between Cana- 
seraga and Chittenango — in digging a well, which led to the 
finding of others. This one, it is said, was worked as early 
as 1810 ; to bring it into more extensive notice the discov- 
ery was advertised, the advertisement being endorsed by the 
names of Benjamin Drake, Robert Stewart, Gilbert Caswell 
and John Lewis, vouching for the truth of the statements 
made. This advertisement is found in the "Cazenovia Pilot," 
date of August 22d, 18 10. 

Among the early settled families of Chittenango was that 
of John H. Walrath. who came in the year 1808, from 
Rome, Oneida Co., his native place being Mindon, Mont- 
gomery Co. Himself and son, Henry I., had contracted to 

* See close of this chapter. 



SULLIVAN. 



6^7 



construct a section on the Seneca Turnpike in this district, 
which was the direct inducement bringing him here. In 
the autumn of this year he brought his family and was 
domiciled for the winter in a small house located where the 
parsonage of the Reformed Church now stands, on the hill 
road leading to Canaseraga ; there is a conspicuous land- 
mark to designate this spot.* Mr. Walrath only occupied 
this house during the winter ; in the spring he moved to a 
farm of lOO acres that he had purchased across the creek, 
which is still known as the "Walrath farm," and is owned 
by his grandson, Abram Walrath. It was mostly forest, 
but he immediately opened clearings and began improve- 
ments. He had a large family when he came, with whose 
combined energies the farm developed and flourished, and 
abundantly rewarded their labors. Mr. Walrath died in 
1 814, when only 48 years of age. His widow with 
characteristic energy went on with her life work, reared her 
family to industry and usefulness, and with the help of her 
boys, paid for the farm and established a home of com- 
petence. Five sons and two daughters grew to nian and 
womanhood, most of whom and many of their descendants 
became citizens of Sullivan. The names of these sons and 
daughters were : — Henry I., John I., Abram, Daniel, Fred- 
eric, Mary and Elizabeth. John H., the father, was born 
October 12th, 1766; Magdalena, the mother, October 9th, 
1764. They were married February nth, 1787.! The 
mother survived till April 9th, 1853, dying at the ripe age 
of %^ years. When Mr. Walrath came, there were but 
three or four houses where the village of Chittenango stands. 
The land through the north part was mostly a quagmh^; 

* In front of the parsonage grows a pine and oak tiuln tree, apparently from the 
same root so interlaced are the roots of the two. Their bodies are joined at the 
base as one, but the oak, growing straight, asserts its individuality and has com- 
pelled the pine to bend to its own unyielding nature. In accommodating its libres 
to the other, the pine winds diagonally partially around it and then shoots upwaM 
like its twin mate, their branches interlocking, while the crown ol the pine stands 
well above the other. The two, so intermingled, present a peculiar and interesting 
appearance. 

I See appendix Note q. 



668 MADISON COUNTY. 

the streets here have been filled up in some places three 
feet, in others as much as six. The "Park" and the land 
about it, when the "Bethel " was built, was a mud pond ; 
and the school house, situated in the midst of it, is well 
remembered by the oldest inhabitants (who were school 
children then,) as standing upon stilts, having a long pla'ik 
leading from the dry ground up to the elevated door, and 
as having a most uninviting play ground. 

Canaseraga was the first village of the town, and yet it 
had but few white families before 1805. Capt. Timothy 
Brown before mentioned, settled there that year. He was 
from Williamsburg, Mass. Hiram Brown, who lives on Lot 
No. 2. is the only one of his family left here. Isaac Holi- 
burt had been a merchant in Canaseraga but had failed. 
Besides the tavern of John Dennie, there was one kept by 
a Mr. Drake, in 1805. On account of the turnpike, taverns 
abounded. The first frame house, as before related, was 
built by Dennie ; the next was built on the front of a log 
house by Solomon Beebe. This log house had been occu- 
pied by Cornelius Doxtator, an Indian, in which he had 
also kept tavern. David Burton came in 1806, and built 
the next frame house. The next store after Holiburt was 
kept in this house by Samuel Chapman ; it is still standing 
(1869,) owned and occupied by Mrs. Sarah F. Frederick. 
John Klock built a house, also for a tavern, which is 
yet standing and now owned by Thomas French, Esq., son 
of John Owen French. This village in 18 10, was the cen- 
tral point for all the country west of the circle of Quality 
Hill ; town meetings, general trainings, and other public 
meetings were held here. Settlements pushed on into the 
wilderness in various directions ; at a point on the present 
line of the Erie Canal, a number of Massachusetts people 
formed a settlement and called it " New Boston." 

In 1 8 10 the census gave Sullivan 318 heads of families, 
with a population of 1794 inhabitants. This census report 
adds : — " The Chittenango Hill, known to travelers as the 



SULLIVAN. 66g 

" Canaseraga Hill," over which the Seneca Turnpike passes, 
is near a mile on that road, from the base to its summit' 
and is of considerable magnitude. The creeks, Canaseraga 
and Chittenango, furnish good mill seats in abundance ; the're 
are three grain mills, six saw mills, and some carding 
machines now erected, besides several other buildings. 
There are three school houses and a meeting house now 
building." Canaseraga had 35 to 40 houses and two stores, 
while New Boston was stated to be a " handsome, compact 
settlement, two miles north of the turnpike." 

In 1823, Canaseraga was incorporated as "Sullivan Vil- 
lage ;" but Chittenango had begun a substantial growth and 
Sullivan Village remained stationary. The N. Y, S. Gazet- 
teer of 1840 states that " there is no attention paid to the 
act of incorporation now." It contains about one hundred 
and fifty inhabitants, twenty-five dwelling houses, one free 
church, one tavern, one store, one grist mill. This place 
again took on its name of Canaseraga.. 

CHITTENANGO. 

This village had many natural advantages in its favor ; a 
beautiful location, rich soil and an unequaled water power ; 
besides it was the point where the Cazenovia road intersect- 
ed the Seneca turnpike. The village commenced about 
18 12, when Judge Sanger and Judge Youngs, of Whites- 
town built the saw mill and grist mill, the latter being on 
the spot where stands the mill of Ransford Button. 

In 18 1 5, Robert and David Riddle built the tannery, 
which materially added to the prosperity of the place. In 
1 8 14 or '15, Elisha Carey built a large and fine hotel, which 
afterwards became the Polytechny building. Not far from 
1815, came Dr. Samuel Kennedy, James Kennedy, Dr. 
Samuel Fuller, Thomas Livingston, John B. Yates and 
others, all of whom were enterprising men, and added the 
stimulus of wealth to the rising village. John B. Yates 
was especially conspicuous, being a man of great wealth 
and largeness of heart ; he became in a decided sense the 



6/0 MADISON COUNTY. 

patron of the village of Chittenango. He built a plaster 
mill about i8i8, from which he sent out large quantities 
of plaster ; subsequently he manuiactured water lime on a 
large scale. 

The Erie Canal became emphatically the means of pros- 
perity to Sullivan, as it opened to the great markets the 
wonderful resources of this region. The discovery of water 
lime, the first in the State, was brought about accidentally in 
the efforts of contractors on the Canal to furnish lime in 
sufficiently large quantities for the masonry work required 
in its construction. It was the purpose of contractors to 
make use of common quick lime on account of the great ex- 
pense of hydraulic cement. Mason Harris and Thomas 
Livingstone, of Sullivan, entered into a contract to furnish 
a quantity for the middle section, and opened quarries on the 
land of T. Clark, Esq. It was found the lime thus obtained 
lacked the usual characteristics of caustic lime. Canvass 
White and Judge Wright, two engineers taking an interest 
in the matter, examined it. Dr. Barton, a scientific gentle- 
man of Herkimer, was called to experiment and if possible 
ascertain what it was. He broke a quantity in the trip- 
hammer shop of J. B. Yates, of Chittenango, burned some, 
pulverized it in a mortar, and after mixing it with sand rolled 
a ball and placed it in a bucket of water for the night. In 
the morning it had "set" and was solid enough to be rolled 
across the floor. It was pronounced to be equal to the best 
Roman cement. Mr. White obtained a patent for making 
this cement, but his rights were evaded for many years ; 
builders in their ignorance permitted prejudice to warp their 
judgments ; and though used on the canal structures, it 
made its way to public favor very slowly. Great exertions 
were made to invalidate Mr. White's patent, which was 
eventually (in 1825) compromised by legislative action of the 
State, paying to him $10,000 for his right and throwing it 
open to the people. 

In 1824, Mr, Yates built the woolen factory, a stone struc- 



SULLIVAN. 57J 

ture, which was merged into the "Broadhead Factory;" this, 
(afterwards greatly improved,) was burned in 1865, causing 
a loss of $60,000. In 1866, James Broadhead had rebuift 
the factory (again of stone,) on a highly improved plan, and 
put in cotton machinery. He sold the property in 1867 
to "Hintermister Brothers." 

While manufactures, mechanics, and mercantile pursuits 
flourished under the influence of the growing wealth, there 
were men and means at hand to elevate the standard of ed- 
ucation and religion. With this high purpose in view Mr. 
Yates, in 1824, or '25, purchased the inn of Elisha Carey 
and established therein the Polytechny, an institute of learn- 
ing, under the presidency of Dr. Andrew J. Yates. This 
school was famed far and near for its generous plan and ex- 
cellent management. 

Before the last named date, the school house in Chitte- 
nango had been conveniently arranged for holding religious 
services, and all societies used it; hence its name, "The 
Bethel." Perhaps the oldest religious society was the Pres- 
byterian, of whom in 1816, there were about twenty mem- 
bers. These obtained preaching irregularly from a minister 
by the name of Johnson, The Reformed Dutch Church, 
however, was originated soon after, and immediately became 
prominent. The Presbyterians joined them and built a 
church about 1828; the latter however, increased, and in 
1833, they formed a separate body and built their own house 
of worship. 

The first Fourth of July celebration in this village took 
place in 1828, which, as we now read it from the worn pages 
of the "Madison Observer and Recorder" of that day, is in- 
vested with a charm which only time can give. We copy : 

"The fifty-second anniversary of our national independence, 
was this day for the first time celebrated in the village of Chit- 
tenango. A large number of the neighboring inhabitants, to- 
gether with the villagers, assembled ujDon the occasion, to pay 
due respect to the day which gave us birth as a nation, and to ex- 
press our gratitude for the happiness and prosperity which we 
enjoy under our republican institutions. 



(iJ2 MADISON COUNTY. 

The day was ushered in as is usual on such occasions. At lo 
o'clock in the morning the line of procession was formed in front 
of the Polytechny, under the direction of Col. Sage, Marshal, 
and Adj't Dunham, Assistant Marshal. The procession then 
moved through the village to the green in front of the church, 
where a spacious arbor had been prepared by the committee of 
arrangements for the exercises of the day. After an appropriate 
and impressive prayer by Rev. Mr. Sherman, and martial music 
bv the Cazenovia band, the Declaration of Independence was 
read by Daniel B. Cady, Esq., and an oration, written in elegant 
and classic style, happily portraying the situation of our country, 
was delivered by Andrew J. Yates, Esq., of the Polytechny ; af- 
ter which, a set piece of sacred music was sung by a number of 
the students of the Polytechny, and a benediction pronounced 
by Rev. Dr. Yates. The procession then returned to the vil- 
lage, and at 2 P. M. about two hundred sat down to a dinner 
prepared by Col. George Ehle, in a style befitting the occasion. 
His table was filled with the choicest productions of the country; 
and his dinner was served up in a manner satisfactory to his 
guests. After the removal of the cloth, a set of patriotic toasts 
were drank, accompanied with music and firing of guns. At 5 
o'clock P. M. the company dispersed, and thus closed the first 
celebration of our National Independence in the village of Chit- 
tenango, impressing upon the minds of all the virtue of republi- 
can institutions and the inestimable value of liberty." 

At this period, prominent among Sullivan's citizens were 
Judge John B. Yates, Rev. Andrevvr J. Yates, Dr. Samuel 
Fuller, William K. Fuller, A. T. Dunham, Judge Sylvester 
Beecher, Dr. Samuel Kennedy, James Kennedy, Thomas 
Livingston, George Ehle, Henry H. Cobb, Robert Riddle, 
Daniel B. Cady, Jarius, Thomas and Samuel French, Peter 
Collier, Abram Walrath, John Adams, Zebulon Douglass, 
Henry Anguish, Judge Knowles. The influence of these 
men was felt in various directions. Some of them were 
legal and political gentlemen, who exerted their influence in 
correcting many abuses which had crept into the adminis- 
tration of law in the country. Sunday mails were protest- 
ed against and finally abolished ; and imprisonment for 
debt so long continued after the law was abolished, was 
inquired into, and the wrong stayed. No men labored 
more earnestly to correct the last named evil than some of 
the prominent men of Sullivan. 



SULLIVAN. g^ 



In 1832, the first newspaper of the town, the " Chitte- 
nango Herald," was established by Isaac Lyon, who con- 
tinued it many years. 

During the intervening years, from 1827 to 1836, the 
first projects were up for railroads in this county. At the 
time of the agitation for the Chenango Canal, the question 
of a railroad from the north line of the County to the Che- 
nango was discussed. Its route was to follow the Chenan- 
go valley, so as to obviate the necessity of a canal, and its 
western or northern terminus was to be at Chittenano-o. 
This proposed road was considerably advertised* ; and the 
exports of Sullivan from the gypsum beds, and the hydraul- 
ic and limestone quarries, besides the convenient point from 
which to transfer salt from Syracuse and Salina, were made 
items of no inconsiderable importance in favor of the road. 
The canal, however, was pushed through, and the project 
dissolved. But still a road was felt to be needed throuo-h 
from the Erie canal to the southern towns, and prominent 
men of Chittenango, Cazenovia and DeRuyter, entered 
upon the preliminaries of such a work with earnestness. 
The names of John B. Yates, Perry G. Childs, Robert Rid- 
dle, J. D. Ledyard, John Knowles, George K. Fuller, Ben- 
jamin Enos, and others, appear foremost in the enterprise. 
Railroad meetings were held along the proposed route, 
which it was desired should extend from Chittenango to 
DeRuyter, and further as soon as practicable. A company 
was formed, subscription books opened, and ;^ 70,000 was 
subscribed. Judge Yates agreed to build the first mile 
from his own private means. The preliminary surveys 
were made and the work of grading commenced at Chitte- 
nango in 1836, when Judge Yates was taken ill and died. 
The work ceased, and the road was ultimately abandoned. 
Had Judge Yates lived, quite probably this road would 
have been a success, and the present C. & C. railroad might 
not have been. In 1839, the Syracuse & Utica railroad 

* Madison Observer and Recorder, March 29, 1828. 
Q2 



6/4 MADISON COUNTY. 

was opened, and thus a new source of prosperity was given 
the town. The increased activity in trade was marked. 

In 1825 the population of Sullivan was 3,130; in 1830, 
4.048; in 1840, 4,390. Chittenango village contained in 
the latter year, 1,000 inhabitants, one hundred and eighty 
dwellings, three churches, a large woolen factory, two large 
water lime factories, one flouring mill, three taverns, ten 
stores. The Gazetteer thus gives its location, etc. : — " It is 
situated one mile south of the Erie Canal, with which it is 
connected by a side cut.* The Syracuse & Utica railroad 
has a depot near the village. The Chittenango Sulphur 
Springs, one mile south of the village, is a place of great 
attraction. The Polytechnic Institute is situated in this 
village." • 

Chittenango village was incorporated March 15, 1842. 
The first village officers were': — Robert Riddle, Alfred 
Bellamy, Daniel Walrath, George R. Fuller, James Crouse, 
Trustees ; Abner P. Downer, Edward Sims, Hiram Curtis, 
Assessors ; Daniel F. Kellogg, Joseph P. Plank, Alonzo 
Bishop, Fire Wardens ; Oren A. Thompson, Collector ; Geo. 
Grant, Treasurer, Henry H. Cobb, Clerk. 

The iron foundry and machine shop was built about 1833, 
Daniel Walrath, proprietor. The paper mill was built by 
Paddock, about thirteen years ago. 

The Chittenango Bank was originated by Abner P. 
Downer and Jeremiah Gates, (both now deceased,) in 
the year 1852, It received its charter April ist, 1853. 
Original capital, ;^ 105,000. Its first officers were: — Geo. 
Crouse, President ; Geo. Grant, Vice-President ; David H. 
Rasbach, Cashier. In 1864, it was changed to the " First 
National Bank, of Chittenango," with a capital of $150,000. 
Present officers, Robert Stewart, President ; Peter Walrath, 
Vice-President ; B. Jenkins, Cashier. This is one of the 
most reliable banks of Madison County. Its capital has 
been largely increased. 

*The Episcopal church now stands where was once the canal basin. 



"i l> 




SULLIVAN. ^»j, 

NEWSPAPERS OF CHITTENANGO. 

The Chiitenango Herald was established in 1832, by 
Isaac Lyon, and was published successively as the Chit- 
tenango Republican, the Phoenix, and \hQ Democratic Gazette, 
until 1856, when it was discontinued The Chittenano-o, 
Madison County, Times, was established in 1870, by Mr A 
White, ' ' • 

THE YATES POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, 

This institution was founded by John B. Yates, in 1824. 
The building was purchased by him of Elisha Carey, it 
having been built in 18 14 for an inn. Rev. Andrew Yates 
brother of John B., was first President, and continued in 
that position till 1 832. It was a very popular school, having 
students from all parts of the Union. Judge Yates sustained 
the school with its corps of six professors, giving to students 
the most liberal advantages, at a great pecuniary sacrifice to 
himself In 1832, it was closed for want of adequate sub- 
stantial support to maintain its generous plan. On the death 
of Mr. Yates, in 1836, when his estate came in process of 
settlement, the building was bought by Henry Yates, who 
deeded it to trustees for school purposes, the name being 
changed from " Polytechny," its original name, to " Yates 
Polytechnic Institute." Between the years 1832 and '^j, 
it was used again as a hotel, Samuel M. Rowell, proprietor. 
In 1837, it was re-opened as a school under the supervision 
of Rev. George W. Thompson, and continued for five years 
with varied success. In 1843, it passed into the hands of 
William Velasko, who continued as principal until 1861, the 
students numbering most of the time from 150 to 200, with 
from 40 to 80 boarders. During Mr. Velasko's term with 
the Institute, he had 3,200 different scholars, who were from 
all parts of the States. Since 1861, four different princi- 
pals have carried on the school, with a degree of success 
not always satisfactory pecuniarily. The last Principal, 
J. W. Hall, endeavored with unremitting care and effort to 
restore it to the high standing of its better days, and in a 



5^6 MADISON COUNTY. 

good degree succeeded, though pecuniarily unprofitable. In 
1 87 1, it closed as an Institute, and opened under the 
arrangement of a graded school, having four departments. 
It has a fine library and philosophical apparatus, and has 
been furnished with all that pertains to an institution con- 
ducted on the College plan. About ;^ 12,000 has been ex- 
pended during 1871, for repairs, improvements, and arrange- 
ments made for the several departments. The accompany- 
ino- engraving represents the Polytechnic Institute as it was 
in 1844, while under the supervision of William Velasko. 

CHITTENANGO SPRINGS. 

This place is situated upon land first taken up by a Mn 
Diefendorf, who sold to Peter Collier. Mr. Collier located 
here and obtained a deed of the land directly from the 
State. In 1824 or '25, he cleared the land around the 
springs and opened a wagon road to the place, it being 
previously accessible only by way of a foot path over the 
pinnacle of the ridge. West of the creek was a poor 
wao'on road, which was improved at the same time, as it 
connected with the new one penetrating to the springs. 
Milton Leach lived there in a small house in 1826, and 
kept a grocery, and also opened a shower bath bouse for 
the benefit of visitors. Mr, Collier erected a good build- 
ing about 183 1 or '32, part of which is incorporated with 
the present springs buildings. He kept boarders and a few 
invalids, and improved the shower house. Judge Horatio 
G. Warner purchased the property of Mr. Collier, and 
after a time sold it to Holmes & Richardson ; then Rich- 
ardson sold his interest to his partner, and the latter 
brought the Springs into extensive notice not far from 1840. 
New and improved buildings were then erected ; the 
springs made attractive ; drives, promenades, arbors, bath- 
ing rooms, in short every thing in vogue for pleasure and 
comfort, was instituted to make the place an attractive 
resort. 



SULLIVAN. g-- 

The Springs are situated two miles south of Chittenango 
village, and are of easy access by way of an excellent 
macadamized road direct from the depot. Since the first 
building up of accommodations about 1840, they have been 
from time to time improved till the present admirable 
appointments were attained. It is a popular waterincr- 
place, with every convenience for promoting the comfort 
and amusement of the invalid or devotee of pleasure ; hot 
baths of the mineral waters with efficient medical supervi- 
sion ; charming drives, boating, fishing, bowling, billiards, 
croquet, music, &c. 

The water has been critically analyzed by the best chem- 
ists in the State and pronounced equalled by only one other 
spring in the country — the "White Sulphur Springs," of 
Virginia — in medical qualities. The following is a state- 
ment of an analysis of one pint of water from each of these 
Springs :-^ 

Carbonate of lime, 
Sulphate of lime, 
Sulphate of magnesia, 
Sulphate of soda. 
Chloride of calcium. 
Organic matter, 

Their curative properties are greatly recommended by 
medical men. 

A new mineral Spring, the water of a bluish color, has 
more recently been discovered near the hotel ; the water 
has a remarkably tonic effect. 

At different dates the patronage of the Springs has been 
very large; in 1870, under the management of C. W. 
Reicks. the number of guests during the year was upwards 
of 10,000. 

BRIDGEPORT, 

Messrs. Isaac and John Delamater made a settlement at 
the Chittenango Rifts, or Rapids, as the place was then 
called, in 1802. Judge John Knowles, John Adams, Esq., 



WHITE SULPHUR 


YATES, 


i>33 


0,88 


8,22 




3.11 


12,75 




1,66 


trace 


0,14 


trace 


trace. 



67S MADISON COUNTV. 

and others, settled in that neighborhood about the same 
time. There is a sudden fall in the Chittenango Creek here 
of about ten feet, which yields an immense water power, 
which is very little employed. It is a famous place for 
taking suckers and other fish, early in the spring, and from 
this circumstance has been denominated the sucker bank. 
It was once a great place for taking salmon. It was not 
uncommon to take them from the nets weighing from 
twelve to twenty-five pounds. Before dams were erected, 
they were taken as high up as Chittenango Falls, twenty 
miles above the outlet. Schooners of two hundred tons 
have been built and launched for the lake trade at Bridgeport;, 
previous to the building of the canal.* 

From a sketch in the Madison County Directory the fol- 
lowing extract is made : — 

"The first settler in the vicinity of Bridgeport, was Capt. Ro- 
sel Barnes, now living in Illinois, He built the first framed 
house having previously kept tavern in a log one. Mr. Rector, 
father of Capt. John Rector, of Bridgeport, was among the first 
settlers, his son having resided here for sixty years. Barrels 
were manufactured there at an early day, taken down Chitte- 
nango Creek, through Oneida Lake and Three River point, 
thence to Salina, where they were exchanged for salt. * * * 

Mrs. Cuppenoll, an aged lady living at Bridgeport, and daugh- 
ter of Mr. Carter, relates that when she was first married, her 
husband used to change works with a friend at a distance, leav- 
ing her alone sometimes for a week. On one occasion, before 
he left home she prepared for their supper a dish of thickened 
milk. It being late, she deferred washing the kettle, but filling 
it with water, set it outside of her cabin door and retired. This 
door was only a 'rag rug' hung up temporarily. During the 
night she heard what she supposed to be the fighting and 
scrambling of dogs over her kettle, and only wondering where 
they all came from, she gave herself no further trouble and went 
to sleep. Early in the morning she was awakened by the hal- 
looing of her nearest neighbor, who having heard the howling 
of a pack of wolves near her dwelling in the night, and knowing 
the frail character of her door, fully expected to find that she had 
been devoured by the ravenous beasts. Her kettle was licked 
clean but no damage was done. Afterwards, until her husband's 
return she slept in the loft. 

* Clark's Onondaga makes the abqve statements. 



SULLIVAN. 570 

In addition to the pioneers already named, we may mention 
the following, who canie at a late date, and whose descendants 
are scattered throughout this region : — Briggs, White, Eastford, 
Owen, Crownhart, Dunham, Hosley and others. 

At Owen's Point, are several Indian mounds, supposed to 
contain the remains of Oneida Chiefs. Near one stands a lar^-e 
beech tree, hollow and open at one side, from which it is said the 
skeleton of an Indian was once taken." 

Although the numerous wild beasts kept the settlers in 
venison, yet bears in their depredations destroyed more than 
their carcasses profited the hunter. Flocks were often dec- 
imated by wolves. Fifty-three years ago at Brigg's Bay, 
from a good sized flock of sheep, seventeen were killed in 
one night by wolves. They were troublesome all over the 
town. Mr. French states that in 1809 Elisha Swift, of Can- 
aseraga, had five calves killed by wolves in one night. He 
became instrumental in getting a law passed whereby a 
bounty of forty dollars per head for every wolf killed, was 
granted. Deer have been known to feed with the cows in the 
wood, and when the latter was driven up at the close of day, 
lie down for the night, and as the cows returned in the 
morning, join them again for the day. Hunting became a 
lucrative business. 

The customs of that day were quite different from those 
at present. The people went much in batteaux on the lake 
and streams. There were Indians everywhere. Fleets of as 
many as thirty canoes were often seen crossing the lake, 
laden with Indians. 

Rev. Austin Briggs, originally from Connecticut, in 181 2, 
was the pioneer minister of this region. He first settled in 
Manlius on his "soldier's right" but soon found he had a 
spurious title. On discovering this he took his family and 
effects and came to Sullivan, on the shore of Oneida lake, 
and there lived in a log house. He afterwards built a house 
about two miles east of Bridgeport. Rev. Briggs belonged 
to the M. E. Conference ; was for a time local and then or- 
dained minister. In his clerical labors he traveled through 
out the northern part of this and Onondaga Counties, where 



6SO MADISON COUNTY. 

he was well known. He traversed the new country on horse- 
back, and often on foot, on account of bad roads, and some- 
times in canoes on the lake and rivers. Austin P. Briggs, 
Esq., of Bridgeport, is a son of Rev. Austin Briggs. 

NORTHERN SULLIVAN. 

Some considerable progress had been made in settling 
the central and southern portions of Sullivan, while the 
northern part, bordering on Oneida Lake, was yet a wilder- 
ness. Chittenango and vicinity was settled several years 
before the woodman's ax was heard along the lake shore. 
Sometime during the year 1811, a man by the name of 
Fogger came and built a cabin on what is now familiarly 
known as " Randall's Point," about a half mile northwest 
of Lakeport. At that time there was no regularly laid out 
road along the lake shore. Fogger stayed about three or 
four years, and then disappeared from the scene, leaving 
no other memento to those who should come after him, than 
his name as associated with the Point, now known as we have 
just said, as Randall's. Tradition, however, if nothing 
more, will keep alive the name of Fogger, and that point of 
land to the northwest of Lakeport, extending out into the 
lake, in conjunction with a similar point on the east, form- 
ing what is familiarly called "the Bay," by the inhabitants, 
will be associated with his name, regardless of what may 
have been his life's career elsewhere. 

About this time, the settlement of the country round 
about the place known as Lakeport, may be said to have 
actually commenced. Reuben Spencer, who had been a 
sea-faring man in his younger days, and who was of good 
Connecticut stock, arrived on the scene accompanied by 
his wife, and set himself down to make a permanent settle- 
ment. He purchased a large tract of land, beautifully sit- 
uated on the lake, through which ran a creek of consider- 
able volume and rapidity at the time, and on which, subse- 
quently, was erected the first saw mill in the vicinity 
of Lakeport. Mr. Spencer, who lived to be an old man. 



SULLIVAN, 68 1 

and to see all of his numerous family of children mar- 
ried and settled in life, with children of their own, departed 
this life some ten years ago. Those who knew him best 
have always spoken of him as an excellent man. His wife 
was greatly respected, and was in all respects a " strong 
woman." She had considerable knowledge of medicines 
and nursing ; hence was a useful woman withal, in those 
early times. She died a few years before her husband. 
Mr. Spencer was a great story teller, and during the last 
few years of his life, lived almost entirely in the past, pay- 
ing but little attention to passing events around him. He 
could tell a story to the last, and tell it well, and no one 
delighted more than he, when the apple harvest was over, 
and his cellar well supplied with the rich juice and the 
delicious fruit, to treat with good stories and good cheer, 
all who called upon him. Mrs. Spencer was an eminently 
pious woman, attaching great importance to a public pro- 
fession of religion. She was a member of the M. E. 
church at the time of her death. 

The same year that Mr. Spencer came, there arrived also 
two others from Connecticut, Mr. Zina Bushnell, and Mr. 
William Williams, the former, from Saybrook, the latter 
from Brandon. Several others from other parts came about 
the same time and settled farther east on the lake shore, 
on what is now known as the " Tract." Deacon Reuben 
Bushnell and Mr. Cadwell may be mentioned as among the 
most prominent in settling and in shaping the early histo- 
ry of their section of Northern Sullivan. They, with oth- 
ers, came, fully imbued with New England ideas, and when 
they became sufficiently numerous to form a religious soci- 
ety, they adopted the religious doctrines of Jonathan Ed- 
wards, and lived them in the full faith and simplicity of 
their day. 

Mr. Zina Bushnell purchased a farm on the east side of 
the bay, and being strong and enterprising soon made con- 
siderable improvements. About this time the State Road 



682 MADISON COUNTY. 

was surveyed and laid out by authority of the Land Office 
Department at Albany. Richard Chapman, now living, 
and one of the early settlers, and also one of the most in- 
telligent and reliable of men, dates the survey of this road 
at 1 8 lo or' 1 1. It was a section of the main road from 
Albany through the State, and when laid out there was 
little else than a dense wilderness on its route. For years 
the road along the lake shore was but a mere trail or foot- 
path. Mr. Wm, Williams, who is still living, (1871,) and 
remembers with vivid distinctness the hardships incident 
to his pioneer life, is authority that bears and wolves were 
often met with in the woods and seen crossing this road by 
the inhabitants, when on their way and back from Bridge- 
port, then a rude settlement consisting of not much else 
than a grist mill and tavern. 

As early as 18 18, Zina Bushnell erected a brick house, 
the first brick building in northern Sullivan. The brick 
were made by himself on his own farm. About the same 
time the creek, known as " Douglass Ditch," was dug as a 
necessary outlet of the immense quantities of water, that 
accumulated on the great swamp, or " Fly," to the lake. 
This ditch drained some eight or ten thousand acres of low, 
swampy land lying south of Lakeport ; 8,400 acres were 
made to contribute towards defraying the cost, by being 
taxed $2 per acre by act of the Legislature. The whole of 
this original swamp was a vast area extending east to Rome. 
Mr. Bushnell, in order to accommodate a portion of the 
men employed ou this ditch, and also meet the wants of 
such travelers as found their way through that section, 
turned his house into a tavern, and kept it as such some 
five years. Mr. Bushnell had his brick house, but this was 
the era of log houses, sawed lumber being difficult to pro- 
cure. A saw mill was erected at Bridgeport, however, 
several years before, where small quantities could be 
obtained for finishing purposes ; but it was not till 1835, 
that the first saw mill was built in the vicinity of Lakeport, 



SULLIVAN, 532 

on a little stream called " Spencer's Creek," near the lake 
shore. This enterprise was accomplished by the joint 
efforts of Zina Bushnell, Reuben Spencer, Merrit Kelsey 
and Jacob H. Spencer. The location, however, was bad, 
and the water power insufficient ; it proved to be a poor 
investment pecuniarily, but it was operated some five years 
and supplied considerable much needed lumber to the 
steadily multiplying settlers. In 1839, Richard Chapman 
and Julius Bushnell erected a saw mill on Douglass' Ditch. 
For some time it was run successfully, but at last, getting 
into litigation with the State, the proprietors became greatly 
embarrassed, and like the saw mill last mentioned, this went 
down, its owners being heavy losers. In 18 16, William 
Williams, and brother, built a tannery at or near the mouth 
of Douglass' Ditch. It was operated some seven or eight 
years and then abandoned. 



Ridgeville. — This is an old settled locality. At this place 
was organized one of the early churches of the town — Presby- 
terian. At one time this Presbyterian society was strong in 
numbers and wealth. About 1828 they built a goodchurch 
edifice. 

Bolivar, a landing place on the Erie Canal, is located one 
mile west of Chittenango landing. It is an old settled place. 
The first Sunday School in the town of Sullivan was held 
by Abram Walrath, in the house of Mr. Lincoln, in Bolivar, 
about 1820. Mr. Lincoln's son William now (1870) resides 
in the same house. 

Fyler Settlement is a pleasant little place, located about 
two and a half miles north from Chittenango Depot. At 
this place there is a steam saw mill and a stave and heading 
factory, owned by Mr. Fyler, from whom the settlement 
takes its name. A Methodist Church was lately built here. 

The murder of Robert Barber, of Coleraine, ^lass., by 
Lewis Wilbur, a native of Saratoga, N. Y., on August 30, 



684 MADISON COUNTY. 

1837, transpired in this town near the canal, at a point about 
half way between Lee's Bridge at New Boston, and Chit- 
tenango Landing. The murder was committed for Bar- 
ber's money. Wilbur was arrested, convicted and hung in 
Morrisville, Oct. 3d, 1839. The intense and wide spread 
excitement at the time, cannot be forgotten by the people 
of that day. 



In concluding these sketches of Sullivan, we give, by way 
of recapitulation of its first thirty years, an extract from a 
communication to the author, dated April 15, 1872, written 
by the still firm hand and in the yet graphic diction of the 
venerable Hon. Wm. K. Fuller, now of Schenectadv, who, 
when he penned it, was within a few months of eighty 
years old : — 

"More than three-fourths of the territory of Sullivan up to the 
year 1816, was a wilderness frequented by bears, deer and other 
wild animals indigenous to the forests of this State. Its princi- 
pal settlements by white people were along and near the line of 
the Seneca Turnpike Road, which was opened to public use 
in the year 1800. Before the opening of that road many immi- 
grants from the east had found their way to the 'Military Tract,' 
which was brought into market not long after the conclusion of 
the revolutionary war ; but the improvement of the adjoining 
Indian reservation, of which the northern portion of Madison 
County formed a part, did not commence till some years after 
many settlements had been made by white people within the 
limits of that tract and west of it. Such settlements could only 
he concurrent with the extinguishment of the Indian title, which 
in Madison County was held by the Oneida Indians and ceded 
by them to the State in limited parcels whenever impelled by 
their necessities, or by outside influences of less credit to hu- 
manity. The last cession was made about 1830, and the rem- 
nant of the tribe (with a few exceptions,) removed, at the expense 
of the State, to a tract of land near the Winnebago Lake in Wis- 
consin." 

Mr. Fuller adds the following just tribute : — "The rapid in- 
crease of the population and wealth of the town of Sullivan sub- 
sequent to 1816, was in a great measure owing to the enterpris- 
ing spirit of Hon. John B. Yates." 

John Owen French, who died in 1808, in the 40th year of 
his age; had four sons — Horatio, Jarius, Samuel and Thomas 



SULLIVAN. gg- 

—all of whom were born in the town of Williamsburgh, 
near Northampton, Mass., and came to Sullivan with their 
father. They spent their long and useful lives here, living 
within a mile of each other near Canaseraga. They be- 
came men of standing and influence ; they were self-made 
men, hence were strong in character and fit to lead in many 
worthy enterprises ; they helped to establish order and good 
society in the town of their adoption, and in turn were hon- 
ored by the confidence of the people ; numerous official 
trusts were committed to their care. Jarius French was 
made Justice of the Peace by the Council of Appointments, 
and afterwards by the votes of the people of Sullivan. He 
served in this office with great ability and to the satisfaction 
of his townmen for near fifty years. 

Samuel French was Census Marshal for Madison County 
in 1830, and Sheriff for the County from 1844 to 1847. I" 
these and other positions of trust he acquitted himself with 
credit. 

Horatio French, besides holding many places of trust in 
his town, was for many years Under Sheriff, an office which 
was held also by his brother Thomas for many years. The 
latter held this position on the decease of his brother Sam- 
uel, whose term as Sheriff of the County he filled out ; he 
was also Under Sheriff under Gen. Messenger, and on the 
latter's decease filled out his term. 

Dr. Samuel Kennedy the pioneer physician of Chitte- 
nango, was from Coleraine, Mass. He became a graduate of 
Fairfield, Herkimer County, Medical School. He com- 
menced practice in Herkimer, where he married Mary Ann 
Livingston in 18 15. He soon removed to the town of Sul- 
livan, settling first at Canaseraga, and afterwards at Chitte- 
nango, where he devoted the remainder of his life to the 
practice of his profession. 

Dr. Kennedy was emphatically the physician of the 
people ; his ready sympathy for suffering made him emi- 
nently the poor man's friend. Always obedient to the calls 



686 MADISON COUNTY. 

of duty, he sensed the public in his professional capacity, 
whether he was paid or not, consequently his large practice 
did not bring an adequate recompense. Quiet, unassuming, 
and unselfish, he pursued his own course, obeying the con- 
victions of his conscience without fear of the opinions of 
others. He had also great energy, perseverance and 
strength of character, with great liberality of views, and 
quietly though firmly acted upon his principles. He was 
one of the early Abolitionists, and voted for James Birney 
in 1844. He died in 1849, aged 59 years. 

Charles L. Kennedy, County Judge and Surrogate of 
Madison County, is a son of Dr. Samuel Kennedy. 

HON. JOHN B. YATES. 

He was the youngest child of Christopher and Jane 
Yates, and was born in Schenectady, N. Y., in 1784. His 
father, an officer in the revolution, died during his infancy. 
In the year 1802, at the early age of 18, he graduated at 
Union College, and soon after entered upon the study of 
the law with his brother, the Hon. Henry Yates. In 1805, 
he was admitted to the bar, and during the seven years 
following addressed himself with unremitting diligence to 
the labors of the profession he had chosen. In the war of 
18 1 2, he was commissioned a Captain by Gov. Tompkins 
and raised a volunteer company of horse artillery. With 
this company he joined the army of Gen. Hampton, and 
served under that General during the unfortunate winter 
campaign of 18 13, in the northern woods of this State. 

At the expiration of the war he was elected Member 
of the 14th United States Congress from the 13th (Sche- 
nectady and Scoharie) District, term of 18 15 and '16, in 
which he took a prominent and active part. After the close 
of his Congressional term he removed to Utica, where he 
resumed '.he functions of his legal profession. Soon, how- 
ever, he changed his home to Chittenango. The Governor, 
on retiring from office in 18 17, to assume the duties of 
Vice-President of the United States, appointed him sole 



SULLIVAN. 53- 

managerof the "Literature Lotteries" of the State, con- 
fidence in which had been lost by the misconduct of the 
managers who immediately preceded him. In consequence 
of the acceptance of this trust, it became necessary for 
him to remove to the city of New York, which he did, and 
did not resume his residence in Chittenango till 1825 >' but 
during his residence in the city he frequently visited Chit- 
tenango, to examine and direct the conduct of those in 
charge of his large estate, which consisted of about 2,000 
acres of land, flouring mills, saw mills, oil mill, lime and 
plaster mill, woolen factory, stores, dry dock and yards for 
building and repairing boats. Polytechnic school, and vari- 
ous residences and other buildings. At times, as many as 
150 men were in his employ. The result of his manage- 
ment of the lotteries was, that he brought them to a success- 
ful termination before the expiration of the time limited by 
the Legislature. 

He also became interested in the commercial importance of 
the Welland Canal, at a time when its stock holders were 
nearly sinking for want of funds, and invested to the 
amount of ^137,000. 

In Madison County and particularly in his adopted town, 
his services were of incalculable value. He cast his influ- 
ence in favor of the Erie Canal, as well as other enterprises, 
ah-eady enumerated. 

In 1828, he received the appointment of Judge of the 
County Court, which position he held for a short period and 
resigned. He was, however, subsequently appointed first 
Judge of the County, which office, together with being a 
Member of the Assembly, he held at the time of his 
decease. Although he seemed especially fitted for public 
stations, he studiously avoided political preferment and 
place ; and it was only by the partiality of his fellow citizens 
that he was raised to those stations of public trust which he 
so nobly adorned. 

Hon. John B. Yates died at his residence in Chittenango 



688 MADISON COUNTY. 

on the loth day of July, 1836, aged 52 years. His death 
was felt as a great public calamity, and every incident con- 
nected with his sickness, which was brief, was published at 
every issue of the press of the country ; and when his 
death was announced, it was received with heartfelt expres- 
sions of sorrow and regret, and a large proportion of the 
newspapers of the country were draped in mourning, for a 
great and good man had fallen. 

The following extract from one of the newspapers of 
the day, but adds one of the many high eulogies upon his 
life: 

" In his death, community at large have sustained a loss. 
His influence was felt throughout the length and breadth of at 
least our State, if not of the country, during the last session of 
the Legislature. The place of his residence must necessarily 
feel the severity of the stroke of Divine Providence in this 
bereavement. The whole community is agitated under its influ- 
ence — its shock is universal —their loss cannot be repaired. 
Not only his influence, but his public spirit was felt in his efforts 
to elevate their moral and intellectual condition, and in devising 
and executing schemes of public improvement, for their tempo- 
ral and eternal prosperity. He descends to the grave, it is con- 
fidently believed, not only without an enemy, but enjoying the 
esteem of all his acquaintances, and the unqualified love of all 
who had the happiness of becoming his friends. 

In his decease, the wife has been bereaved of a tender and 
affectionate husband — the relatives a generous and benevolent 
brother and friend — the widow and fatherless of a benefactor — 
the poor of one whose charities were profuse — and the cause of 
Christ an able defender and generous supporter." 

As he devoted liis mind and his means with such assidui- 
ty, he effected for the village of Chittenango a greater pros- 
perty than any other person ; hence he was regarded as the 
founder of the village. In fact the history of Chittenango 
is everywhere marked by his munificent deeds. 

His desire for the advancement of education induced 
him to found, at his own expense, the Polytechnic College 
in Chittenango, which was ably conducted for nearly ten 
years. 

His financial operations, in connection with his partners, 



SULLIVAN. ggg 

raised Union College from a state of comparative insolven- 
cy to that of opulence and distinction. To carry out his 
views in regard to the proper conduct of institutions for a 
thorough practical and literary education, as well as an ele- 
vated moral training, he made careful arrangements in his will 
for the bestowal of a large amount of his property to this end. 

Had his views been carried out by our State Legislature, 
as has since been done for Cornell University, an institu- 
tion like that would have been established, and in success- 
ful operation thirty years ago. Chittenango might have 
had the advantage of its location, and one generation more 
at least have been blest with its fruits ; whereas, that sum 
designed by him for this noble use, has realized little of its 
intended worthy purposes, although his trustees used their 
utmost endeavors to bring the Legislature to concur with 
his plans. 

In Walnut Grove Cemetery, south of Chittenango village, 
can be seen the monument erected to his memory. Carved 
upon the stone is the noble face of one whose numerous 
good deeds are inscribed in the enduring marble. 

In the Reformed Church there is also placed a neat me- 
morial tablet, which has the following inscription : — 

Sacred 
To The 

Memory of the 
Hon. John B. Yates, 
Who Died 
July loth, 1836. 
He was eminently possessed of the characteristics of a great 
and good man, ever distinguished for his philanthropy and be- 
nevolence. 

As a friend he was generous and changeless. By this society 
his name is deservedly cherished with grateful and affectionate 
remembrance. 

In the erection of this house of worship, he was deeply inter- 
ested, and toward the completion of the object was the most lib- 
eral benefactor. 

The memory of the just is blessed : Prov. 10 : 7. The liber- 
al deviseth liberal things and by liberal things he shall stand : 
Isa 32 : 81. 
R2 



6gO MADISON COUNTY. 

Hon, Wm. K. Fuller. — He was born in Schenectady, 
N. Y., on the 24th day of November, 1792. His father, 
Jeremiah Fuller, on his father's side was a lineal descend- 
ant of Samuel Fuller, one of the Puritans who landed from 
the ship Mayflower, at Plymouth Rock in 1620 ; and on the 
side of his mother, of one of the Holland families that 
founded Schenectady. The mother of Wm. K, Fuller, 
Mary Kendall, was born in Yorkshire, England, and came 
to this country with her father and brother about the year 
1787. Mr. Fuller was educated in the schools of his native 
place ; he graduated at Union College, studied law in the 
office of Henry and John B. Yates and was admitted to 
practice in the Supreme Court in the year 1814. Shortly 
after his admission, he entered into partnership with John 
B. Yates. In the summer of 18 14 they moved to Utica, 
Oneida Co., opened an office and practiced law there until 
the spring of 18 16, when they removed to Chittenango, 
then a village of about 100 inhabitants. During his resi- 
dence in Utica he was appointed Master in Chancery, At- 
torney for the Oneida, Stockbridge and Brothertown In- 
dians, and Quarter-master of a regiment of Militia. While 
a resident of Chittenango, he was appointed to and executed 
the duties of the following offices and trusts, namely : — 
Justice of the Peace twice, Town Clerk, Postmaster, Aid- 
de-Camp to the General of Brigade with the rank of Cap- 
tain, Brigade Judge Advocate with the rank of Major, Di- 
vision Inspector with the rank of Colonel, Attorney for 
Madison County, Adjutant General of the State of New 
York, Commissioner under the acts to drain the great Can- 
aseraga marsh, Supervisor twice. Commissioner of High- 
ways, Judge of the Madison County Court of Common 
Pleas, School Trustee, Member of Assembly twice in sue • 
cession, (1829 and '30,) and twice in succession a Member 
in Congress from the Twenty-Third District, composed of 
the Counties of Madison and Onondaga. He gave up the 
practice of law in 1823. Early in that year he was ap- 



SULLIVAN, ^Q 

pointed Adjutant General by Gov. Yates, serving throucrh 
his administration and six months under Gov. Clinton his 
successor in office being unable to assume its duties. Gov 
Clinton issued ."a General Order" complimentary of his ser- 
vices as Adjutant General and caused it to be published in 
the State paper. His last term in Congress ended March 3d, 
1837. Since that date he has paid very little attention to 
matters of public concern. Up to 1852 his time was o-iven 
to his own affairs and to the settlement of the large estate 
of his deceased friend and former partner, Hon. J. B. Yates 
of whose will he was one of the executors. Soon after the 
settlement of that estate, he became interested in property 
in Canada, and thenceforth his time has been divided be- 
tween that country and his native State. 

Judging from the present state of politics, one might 
imagine from the foregoing, not knowing his character, that 
he had not only been an office-holder, but an office-seeker. 
Such a conjecture, however, would be far from the truth ; 
not one of the whole number was conferred through the 
least effort, solicitation or expenditure of money on his part.. 

Judge Fuller was one of the directors of, and a stock- 
holder in the Madison County turnpike road,* which passed 
through Peterboro and connected the Seneca road at Chit- 
tenango, with the Cherry Valley road at Madison. He was 
also one of the directors, and the secretary and treasurer of 
the " side cut," from Chittenango to the Erie canal, 
which was completed under his superintendence, simulta- 
neously with the middle section of the Erie, at a much less 
cost than the capital subscribed. 

Judge Fuller has for many years been a resident of 
Schenectady, his native place. Although he has reached 
the advanced age ot eighty years, and is somewhat infirm 
physically, yet his heart is still young, his spirits buoyant, 
his well cultivated mind remarkably clear and strong. 

* Since this road was abandoned as a toll road, for want of adequate receipts to 
meet the expense of keeping it in repair, and surrendered to the towns trirough 
which it passed, Hon. Gerrit Smith has very greatly improved it at his own expense 
in the vicinity of Peterboro. 



692 MADISON COUNTY. 

We append here a brief notice of the three brothers of 
Judge WilHam K. Fuller, — Samuel, George K., and Edward, 
— =ail of whom were natives of Schenectady, graduates of 
Union College, and eminent men : — Samuel completed his 
medical studies in the city of New York, and established 
himself as a physician and surgeon in Chittenango about 
the year 18 18. Edward, who also completed his medical 
studies in New York, became a partner of Samuel in 1824. 
In the course of their joint practice, each acquired an 
excellent reputation for skill and integrity. Edward ceased 
to practice his profession about the year 1834. Samuel 
continued to practice until 1866, when with his family he 
moved to New York city, where he died the year following, 
in the 73d year of his age. George K. came to reside in 
Chittenango about the year 1820. He had not resided 
there long before Mr. John B. Yates constituted him his 
general agent, and superintendent of his farming, mercan- 
tile and manufacturing concerns at Chittenango. He acted 
in that capacity until the decease of Mr. Yates in 1836. 
As an acknowledgment of his faithful services, Mr. Yates 
left him by his will a legacy of ^5,000, and appointed him 
one of its executors. He was engaged in the trust thus 
confided to him till the final settlement of the estate, which 
from unavoidable circumstances did not occur till 1852. 
Possessed of sound judgment, clear perceptions, great mor- 
al courage and generous temper, he was well adapted to 
the positions allotted to him in life. He was a liberal pat- 
ron and trustee of the Polytechnic school at Chittenango, 
and though much averse to holding public office, he was 
once or twice induced to serve as supervisor of the town. 
He died at Chittenango in the year 1858, in the 59th year 
of his age. 

CHURCHES. 

The Presbyterian Church of Chittenango Village was 
organized as early as 18 16, with about 20 members. On 
the formation of the Reformed Dutch Church, the Presby- 



SULLIVAN. 5g, 

terians joined with it. About 1830 the society was again 
revived prospering greatly under the ministrations of Rev. 
Mr. Smith. About 1833, they resolved to build a church, 
although the pecuniary responsibility rested on a few. 
Dr. Samuel Kennedy, Mr. Hall and Mr. Thomas Living- 
ston, were the building committee. Heavy debts rested on 
those who became responsible, and when the society 
declined, about 1840, the building was sold to the Baptist 
society. The Presbyterians again joined themselves to the 
Reformed Dutch Church. 

The Reformed Dutch Church of Chittenango, was organ- 
ized in 1827. There had been previously religious meet- 
ings held in the Bethel, and in the Polytechny, but the 
needs of the village required better accommodations for 
religious services. John B. Yates, who was a member of 
the Reformed Dutch church, obtained assistance among the 
churches of that denomination, which with subscriptions 
among the citizens, enabled them to erect in 1828, a fine 
substantial building at a cost of between eleven and twelve 
thousand dollars. The first pastor was Rev. Andrew Yates. 
The following pastors have served since : — Rev. Wm. H. 
Campbell, Stephen Alexander, James Van Vost, James 
Abell, the latter pastor seventeen years. Also Rev. Mr. 
Talmadge and Rev. J. H. Enders. 

The M. E. Church of Chittenango.— This society was 
organized September 9th, 1833. Its originators were J. I. 
Walrath, Daniel Walrath, J. B. Knowles, William Metcalf 
and A. Comstock. Its first pastor was Benjamin G. Pad- 
dock. The old Church was built in 1836, and was burned 
in 1862. In 1862 and '63 it was rebuilt. 

Baptist Chinch of Chittenango.— T\A^ society was organ- 
ized previous to 1840, and purchased their meeting house 
of the Presbyterians. The first pastor was Elder Houston. 
In the course of time the society decHned and sold their 
house to the Roman Catholics in 1862 or '63. Since the 
latter date, however, the society has revived and has become 



694 MADISON COUNTY. 

a Strong and influential body. A fine new church edifice 
has been erected. 

The Canaseraga Church. — This edifice was built about 
1828, by the UniversaHsts and Methodists, It was then 
called the "Free Church." The property was deeded in the 
beginning to the Universalists, but the Methodists con- 
tinue to occupy it and keep it in repair. There was a time 
when the Episcopalians chiefly occupied it. 

CJiurches at Bridgeport. — The Baptist Church was origi- 
nally built by the Baptists and Methodists, and was used 
alternately by each. Difficulties, however, grew out of the 
joint ownership, and in 1869, the M. E. Society built a new 
house. Its erection was due to the perseverance of the 
Rev. Mr. Lyon, pastor in charge. Mr. Russel Adams, of 
New York, formerly a resident of Bridgeport, donated 
largely for the building of this Church. 

Episcopal Church of Chittenango. — In the year 1850, 
arrangements were made with Rev. A. P. Smith, Cazenovia, 
to hold regular religious services here, who continued 
his services from year to year. The parish was organized 
about 1856, at which time Mr. Sandford Cobb and Mr. 
Joseph Sanger were constituted first wardens. The church 
edifice was built in 1866, at a cost of about $5,000, and was 
the same year consecrated by Bishop Cox. Through the 
instrumentality of Mrs. Kellogg, wife of Hon, Charles 
Kellogg, and the young ladies of the village, the funds were 
raised with which the church was built. Rev. Mr. Smith 
has been the officiating clergyman from the beginning to 
the present time, with the exception of one year when the 
Rev. Geo. Southwell was pastor. 



SMITHFIELD. 



695 



CHAPTER XV. 



SMITHFIELD. 

Boundaries. — Geography. — New Petersburgh Tract. — Adven- 
tures with Indians. — Original town of Smithfield. — Pioneer 
Families and Early Settlers. — First Enterprises. — Peterboro in 
1806. — Execution of Mary Antone. — Panther incident. — 
Notices of Citizens. — The Evans Fund. — Peterboro Academy. 
— Orphan Asylum. — Biographical Sketches ; Judge Peter 
Smith ; Hon. Gerrit Smith. — Siloam. — Churches. 

Smithfield is an interior town lying north of the center of 
the County. It is bounded north by Lenox, east by Stock- 
bridge, south by Eaton and Nelson, and west by Fenner. It 
was formed from Cazenovia March 13th, 1807. Fenner was 
taken off in 1823, and a part of Stockbridge in 1836. It is 
now the smallest town in Madison County, having but 15,- 
246 square acres of land. It is the only town in the 
county not traversed by a railroad, but in the matter of wagon 
roads it excels. The second turnpike of this County, the 
"Oneida Turnpike," passed through Peterboro from Oneida to 
Cazenovia ; it was a famous road in its day and is now a well 
kept highway. The "Peterboro Stone Road," which passes 
through this town on its way from Morrisville to Canas- 
tota, is no doubt the best road of its class in the County. 

The surface of this town as a whole is a hilly, rolling up- 
land. One of the largest branches of the Oneida creek 
rises in the large swamp lying west and northwest of Peter- 
boro. From here the stream courses southerly past the cen- 
ter of the town, then turns to the southeast and finds its 



696 MADISON COUNTY. 

way to the valley of the main creek through a deep gulf in 
the southeast corner of the town. On the ridge bordering 
this creek to the northward rise a few springs, the united 
waters of which form the origin of the Cowassalon, which 
passes northerly through Siloam and thence on out of the 
town. The general character of the soil is a sandy and 
gravelly loam, well adapted to the culture of grain. Lime- 
stone and gypsum are found in the northeast part. The 
most extensive marl bed in the county is f >und on the land 
of Gerrit S. Miller, in the swamp before mentioned, where 
at least four hundred acres are underlaid with a shell deposit 
of unascertained depth.* This swamp was apparently once 
the bed of a lake. Mineral waters are found in various 
parts of the town ; near Siloam is a spring possessing min- 
eral properties of great strength. 

Smithfield was the tract of land obtained of the Oneida 
Indians in 1795. While living in Utica in 1794, Mr. Smith 
obtained of this tribe the lease of the " New Petersburgh 
Tract," (thus named from Peter Smith,) comprising an area 
of 50,000 acres, embracing a large part of Augusta, Onei- 
da County, a portion of Stockbridge, and nearly all of 
Smithfield, Fenner and northern Cazenovia. This he di- 
vided into four allotments. At this time a law had been 
enacted in Congress which forbade the Oneidas selling 
their lands to the white settlers. There was, however, 
nothing in the act to prevent their leasing their lands for 
any length of time ; therefore Mr. Smith obtained posses- 

* Believing marl to be of inestimable value as a fertilizer, Col. Miller submitted 
a portion of this marl to the examination of Prof. Norton, agricultural chemist of 
Yale College, who gave his decision in the following words : — "This earth is a marl, 
and I have no hesitation in pronouncing it one of excellent quality; the carbonate 
of lime, you will observe amounts to about eight-tenths of the whole; the very small 
quantitv of carbonate of magnesia and the trace of phosphoric acid, adds materially 
to its enriching qualities, although it is present in small quantities. 

Marls are seldom richer in lime than this is, and if it abounds on your farm, you 
have a most valuable source of fertility, unless you are a limestone formation and 
well supplied." 

In accelerating the chemical changes of redeemed swamps, the Professor reconi- 
mended the application of lime — more particularly quick lime — and decidedly in this 
form of marl ; — he says : " It not only supplies a want in the soil, but ameliorates 
the chemical condition." 



SMITHFIELD. 



697 



sion of this tract by a lease extending for a term of 999 
years. The Oneidas were then divided into two parties, 
known respectively as the " Christian" and " Pagan" par- 
ties. The Pagan party was strongly opposed to the leas- 
ing to Mr. Smith, while the Christian party, with the chief 
of the Oneidas, the celebrated Skenandoah at their head, 
upheld him in the rights they had given him. Skenandoah 
was Mr. Smith's warm personal friend. Immediately upon 
the arrival of the surveyors upon the tract, there arose a 
great commotion among the Indians. The Christian party 
were stationed at the foot of Stockbridge hill, near the 
site of the old house known as " five chimneys," and by 
their presence were felt to be a protection by the surveyors. 
However, the wily Pagans, to avoid any arbitration with 
their peaceably disposed brethren, eluded their vigilance, 
and secretly taking a circuitous route, came down in war- 
like attitude upon the defenceless party, surveying at the 
time, in and about the present village of Peterboro, then a 
dense wilderness. Here the attack was made by the Indi- 
ans, near the point where Elias Sager now lives, in the 
north part of the village. A hatchet was thrown by an In- 
dian, which struck and severely injured the hand of Joseph 
Annin, one of the surveyors. The compass and chain were 
then broken and the surveying party driven from the tract. 
Being out-numbered, unarmed, and far from the habi- 
tations of white men, they were glad to seek safety in 
flight. Col. Thomas Cassity,* then of Canajoharie, but a 

*This old pioneer of Augusta, and most able and useful man of the day, (i79S) 
in company with Peter Smith, built the first grist mill at Oriskany Falls. He was 
also the first justice of the peace, and the first supervisor of the town of Augusta. 
On being elected to the latter office, there was no other justice m town, and he 
swore himself into office before himidf. As this qualifying was not strictly legal, 
its legality was never questioned. ...... 

Col. Thomas Cassity, was in his youth at Detroit, then a British military post, 
taken a few years previously from the French. His father, Capt. James Cassity, 
was a British officer stationed at that point. When news came to this then far ott 
fort that hostilities had commenced between the colonies and the mother country, 
and that the troops there were expected to fight for King George, Capt Cassity 
and his son Thomas (the latter then 17,) rebelled; they were American born and 
would not bear arms against their countrymen. Matters soon culminated j the 



698 MADISON COUNTY. 

little later of " Cassity Hollow," (named after him,) now 
Oriskany Falls, whose thorough knowledge of Indian char- 
acter, and intimate associations with the Oneidas gave him 
great influence among them, assisted Mr. Smith in adjust- 
ing his difficulties with the Pagan party, and his proceed- 
ings were no further interfered with by them. His opera- 
tions however, were watched by Congress, and this body 
deputed Timothy Pickering to come to Oneida to arrest 
Mr. Smith's influence over the Indians. Mr. Pickering on 
arriving addressed them at a great meeting held at " Butter- 
nut Orchard," near Oneida Castle, his speech being given 
through an interpreter. Mr. Smith, having acquired the 
Indian language, and being able by long custom to speak 
it fluently, replied to Mr. Pickering in a speech in the In- 
dian dialect, reminding them of their long and intimate 
acquaintance and extensive business relations, calling upon 
any or all present to say if, in all their dealings or inter- 
course he had practiced deception or fraud, or had ever 
attempted to wrong them in any manner whatever. The 
speech was remarkable for its force and clearness, and 
appealing as it did to their understandings and sense of 
justice, he sustained himself triumphantly, and re-establish- 
ed his influence over both parties of the Indians. 

Captain's superior officer was informed of the fact, and an altercation ensued, in 
which the officer either threatened, or actually attempted violence upon the Cap- 
tain. Young Thomas stood by with a loaded musket ; quick as thought he brought 
it in range of the officer and shot him down, then turned and fled with the swift- 
ness of a wild animal, deep into the Michigan woods, and was effectually lost to all 
pursuers. His face was not again seen in civilized life till many years after, when 
he appeared suddenly among his friends, in the lower Mohawk country. He had 
been adopted by, and all that time resided with the western Indians. He was him- 
self ever reticent as to the experiences of those years of self-banishment, only say- 
ing that he had lived with the natives ; but tradition has it that he had a native 
wife during those years and furthermore, that he was the father of the renowned 
Chief Tecumseh. 

Col. Cassity, after reaching the great age of nearly 80 years, met his death 
about 1835, by accident; he took from a shelf a bottle which he supposed con- 
tained spirits, and drank from it hastily a large swallow; it proved to be sulphuric 
acid ! He died in great agony a few hours after. 

Capt, James Cassity after being so effectually defended by his son, was taken a 
prisoner to Lower Canada and kept there several years. Subsequently he resided 
with or near his son at Oriskany Falls. The remains of father and son rest in the 
" Dug- Way Cemetery," in South Augusta, the locality of their graves being 
unmarked and now p»st identification. 



SMITHFIELD. ggo 

In 1795, in a treaty with the Oneidas, the State pur- 
chased a large share of their Reservation, which purchase 
embraced Mr. Smith's tract. He had leased much of the 
eastern part of his tract, before this purchase, to white set- 
tlers, for a term of 21 years ; but the State thus coming into 
ownership, the Legislature, in 1797, passed an act providing 
that those who had obtained leases of Mr. Smith, should 
have a patent from the State, upon their paying $s,S^i per 
acre. The large proportion not leased before the treaty, 
Mr. Smith was required to pay the State for at the same 
rate, in order to obtain his own patent. The State, how- 
ever, compromised with him by allowing a certain sum for 
his original lease of the Indians, which reduced the price 
actually paid by him for the land to about $2 per acre. 
Thus he acquired title to all that portion not leased by him 
to the white settlers, amounting to 22,299^ acres. 

In accordance, therefore, with the said act of the Legis- 
lature, these settlers accepted the terms and became pur- 
chasers of the State. Their lands lay in Augusta and 
Stockbridge, being of the " New Petersburgh ist allotment," 
and with the exception of a strip about a mile wide extend- 
ing across the southern part of Stockbridge and into Augusta, 
to the amount of six lots in the latter town, was no more 
included in the New Petersburgh tract. This "strip," 
of the 1st Allotment is that portion of those towns retained 
by Mr. Smith, and forms what is denominated the " L." * 
The sales to those settlers under Mr. Smith's twenty-one 
year leases, therefore, reduced the ist Allotment to the 
dimensions of the L, and the New Petersburgh tract was, 
thereafter, composed ol that and the 2d, 3d and 4th Allot- 
ments. 

The original town of Smithfield included within its lim- 
its a few tiers of lots at the west end of the first Allotment, 
the whole of the second and third Allotments excepting the 



*The ist Allotment was composed of 74 lots ; 55 in Augusta, 14 In Stock- 
bridge, and 5 in Smithfield. 



700 



MADISON COUNTY. 



west tier of the third — which west tier and the whole of the 
fourth Allotment were in Cazenovia — together with that 
part of the "Mile Strip Tract" lying east of lots 28 and 29. 
The present town embraces the two western tiers of the 
first Allotment, the whole of the second excepting the t\.o 
western tiers and that part of the Mile Strip lying north. 

Settlement commenced early in New Petersburgh. Jas- 
per Aylesworth, the first settler of Smithfield, camein 1795, 
and opened a clearing in Peterboro. He had no family, and 
therefore was sole inhabitant for a short time. Oliver Trum- 
bull came in with his father's family (who settled in Fenner 
a short time after) and took up a farm about half a mile 
south of Peterboro. Seth Griffin came the same year. 

We remark here that in 1 795, Utica (Old Ft. Schuyler) was 
the nearest market, and thither through the woods, guided 
by marked trees to the old Genesee road, the sparse popu- 
lation of all this section of Madison County wended their 
way to market. At that time John Post, a clever Dutch- 
man, was merchant and postmaster at Utica for all this region, 
and Jason Parker carried the mail between Albany and 
Utica. The arrival of half a dozen letters for people of this 
far off section was a remarkable incident which sometimes 
happened — as we find indicated by the following advertise- 
ment of "Letters remaining in the post office at Fort Schuy- 
ler," published in the "Western Sentinel," Sept. 23d, 1795, 
the oldest issue of that paper known to be extant : — "Jede- 
diah Jackson or Asahel Jackson, Clinton ; Stephen Burton, 2, 
Whitestown ; Oliver Trumbull, Fort Schuyler." These 
men were then or soon after residents of this and adjoining 
towns. 

From the Madison County Directory of 1868 and '69, 
the following, from the pen of Hon. A. A. Raymond, is ex- 
tracted : — 

"The Trumbulls and Griffins had families, and all of them lo- 
cated on lot 33, Second Allotment, being the first lot south of 
No. 26, on which is Peterboro. Aylesworth was unmarried, and 
came as the hired man of Judge Smith, and in that capacity 



SMITHFIELD. ^qj 

felled the forest trees on the village plat, then an untouched 
wilderness which had never before been made to echo to the 
sound of the axman's blows and the hourly crashing of falling 
trees. How long he continued in Judge Smith's employ is not 
known ; but at an early day in the history of the town he mar- 
ried a daughter of John Taft, Esq., another early settler who 
lived in town. Mr. Aylesworth endured the privations incident 
to the early settlers. On one occasion he brought a five-pail 
kettle 071 his back from Utica, to make maple sugar ! Some of his 
first supplies and provisions he brought from Utica in the same 
manner. He became a permanent resident of the town and 
was an enterprising and successful farmer. One only, of the 
large family he reared remains in town. 

Ithamar Bump settled on lot 41 in 1797, where he continued 
to reside until removed by death, Aug. 14th, 1815. Soon after 
his first settlement in town, he was joined by his father, Ichabod 
Bump, and in the course of a few years, \foses, Nathan, David, 
Jonathan, Gideon and Jacob, brothers of Ithamar, and a sister 
named Hannah, the wife of Ebenezer Bronson, all became res- 
idents of the town. In their physical characteristics this was a 
peerless family. The brothers were all large, well developed 
men, averaging six feet in hight, with great muscular power, and 
as wrestlers and for personal prowess (qualities highly prized in 
those days,) were a terror to the athletes of the county. Some 
of them were enterprising and successful farmers, among whom 
Ithamar, especially, was an industrious, upright and esteemed 
citizen. His descendants to the third generation still live in 
town, and include some prominent business men. The old pa- 
triarch, Ichabod. died Dec. 22d, 1823, in.his 90th year. 

Capt. Joseph Black came in about the year 1798. Where he 
first located is not certainly known, but in the fall of 1802, he 
was on lot 59, N. P. second Allotment, and in 1803 or '04 he be- 
came a prominent contractor for the construction of a large sec- 
tion of the old "Oneida Turnpike," which was made under his 
immediate supervision. He was proverbially upright and relia- 
ble, insomuch that to this day the question is sometimes asked 
by those who knew him and still remember him, whether this 
generation furnishes any specimens of such unswerving integri- 
ty. His memory is precious, and ' though dead he yet speaketh.' 

Between the years 1798 and 1805, many valuable men came 
in and settled as farmers in difterent parts of the town, but 
chieflv on the two southern tiers of lots on the Mile Strip tract. On 
this Mile Strip tract and contiguous thereto were Jacob and Sam- 
uel Walker, Allen Bill, David Shipman, Solomon Merril, sen., 
and sons, Robert Streeter, Gideon Wright, Jabez Lyon, Shad- 
rach Hardv, David Tuttle, Ezra Chaffee, Mrs. Moody and her 
sons David and Samuel, Mrs. Matteson and her sons John, 



702 MADISON COUNTY. 

Abraham, Eli and Nathan, Barzilla and Amos Northrup, Sylva- 
nus Matthewson and sons Winchester and Stephen, Stephen 
Risley, Moses Howe, Salmon Howard, and Francis Dodge. On 
the two southern tiers of lots were Edward Bliss, Wright Brig- 
ham, John Lucas, Rodman Spencer and sons, David Blodget, 
Alpheus Thompson, John Ford, Reuben Rich, Andress Love- 
land and others". Most of these, with many more not named in 
the list, settled permanently, became prosperous farmers, and 
valuable men and citizens, and were equally worthy of more than 
this passing notice, as were those before referred to at greater 
length." 

A few additional particulars of early settlers we give in 
this connection : — John Taft emigrated from Connecticut, 
and located on Lot 33. Shortly before his decease he sold 
this farm to John Pray. During his last illness he expressed 
a desire to be buried in an orchard he had planted on the 
farm. His wish was complied with, and for many years the 
traveler who passed along the adjacent highway could dis- 
tinguish the marble slab in the northeast corner of Mr. 
Phipps orchard, (a subsequent owner,) which marked the 
grave of John Taft, one of the original settlers. 

Elder John Pray was an eccentric " Six Principle " Bap- 
tist minister, well remembered by the oldest inhabitants for 
his odd speeches and peculiar ways. He was from Rhode 
Island, and lived with his sons John and Jonas Pray, on the 
old "Pray farm," to a good old age. He died in 1830, leav- 
ing numerous descendants. 

Stephen Risley came from East Hartford, Conn., in 1801. 
He was a soldier of the revolution during the most of the 
war ; was in the battles of Long Island, Brandywine and 
Monmouth, and was a sergeant in Washington's Guard. 
He was present and on duty at the execution of Andre. 

Daniel Petrie,* another early settler, and connected with 

the Bellingers, served a clerkship under Van Epps. He 

learned the Indian language, which gave him influence 

among the natives. In 1808 he was a Captain of Militia. 

David Shipman, before mentioned among the settlers of 

*In 1808, the Smithfield Artillery Company was formed. Daniel Petrie was 
instrumental in raising it and was chosen its rirst Captain. 



SMITHFIELD. 703 

the Mile Strip, was a native of Clinton, Livingston Co., N. 
Y., and came to this town in 1800. 

Many of the farms taken up and brought under cultiva- 
tion by these sturdy men, still remain in possession of their 
descendants. 

James Livingston, a brother of Mrs. Peter Smith, was 
the first merchant in Peterboro — in the year 1801. The 
building in which he carried on his business was a fine one 
for those days. It is still standing at the east end of the 
public green, near its former location, having only been set 
back a few yards. It was the first frame house of the vil- 
lage — built in 1800. It is now owned by Eliphalet Ales- 
worth, son of Jasper Aylesworth, and occupied by him as a 
dwelling. Livingston was followed in the mercantile busi- 
ness by a Mr, Eggleston, Later, Captain Daniel Petrie 
established a store, which he kept many years. This was 
situated on the corner now owned by Mr. Miller. A por- 
tion of this original building is embodied in the house 
where Mr. Bridge now (1869) resides. Capt. Petrie was 
the first postmaster of Peterboro. 

The first school was taught by Miss Tabitha Havens, in 
Peterboro, in i8or. Her school consisted of some half a 
dozen children— all there were in the sparse population, 
Smithfield thus early evinced her proclivities in favor of 
education, which proves to have been sustained in her later 
history. We remark here that the same year Miss Havens 
taught this school she was married to James Tucker, of that 
part of Smithfield now Fenner. 

"The earliest marriages referred to by old settlers were those 
of Tohn Matteson to Hudassah BHss, and Elijah Trumbull to 
Abigail Carey, both of which are believed to have occurred m 

'^Emmons Downer, Esq., still a resident, was born in Peterboro 
in Sentember i8os. No reliable account of an earlier birth has 
been gfven, Ind he is jherefore believed to be the oldest naUve 

"tliTah Pratt was the^ first physician of Peterboro,-in 180^ or 
'oa ; he was also the first male school teacher. J^^^ Jo.hua 
Johnson, Presbyterian, was the first resident preacher-in 1806 , 



704 MADISON COUNTY. 

Nehemiah Huntington was the first lawyer — in 1807 ; Captain 
Daniel Petrie was the first postmaster — in 1807 j John Downer 
and Peter Weber were the first blacksmiths — in 1802 ; and 
Reuben Long built the first grist mill and saw mill in 1802." 
— [From A. A. Raymond's sketches.] 

Dr. Phineas Lucas was the next physician after Dr. Pratt; 
he was located on the old road, about midway between 
Peterboro and Morrisville, where he died April 27th, 1806, 
at the age of 32 years. Dr. Dourance, from Windham Co., 
Conn., was in Smithfield at the time and attended the 
funeral ; he decided to remain and commence practice where 
his brother physician had left it. Accordingly he did open 
an office immediately and succeeded well in business. Pie 
will be remembered with respect for his good qualities by 
many of the oldest citizens. Dr. Rivera Nash commenced 
practice in this town in 1807. 

Dr. Joel Norton succeeded Dr. Nash in 18 14. He was 
not only a successful physician, but was highly respected 
as a citizen through the lustre of his inherent private vir- 
tues. For twenty-seven years he was a favorite physician in 
Smithfield, a devoted christian, and a valued and steadfast 
friend of the Presbyterian church.* 

Mrs. Olive Raymond, widow of James Raymond, of 
Windham County, Conn., with two children, and accom- 
panied by her three sisters, the Misses Downing, came to 
Smithfield quite early in this century. Mrs. Raymond 
sickened and died three days after her arrival. A. A. 
Raymond, Esq., of Peterboro, and his sister (now dead,) 
were the children thus orphaned. The sisters of Mrs. Ray- 
mond continued the home until their death by the " epidem- 
ic," elsewhere noted, in 1813. 

John Forte,! ^^ early settler of Lenox, became one of 

* Dr. Norton died at the age of 54 |years, June 30, 1841, at Newport R. I., 
whither he went a very little time previous for the benefit of his health. As he 
neared the boundry line between time and eternity, like the true christian and phy- 
sician he gave testimony of his feelings, and the state of his mind. Had we space 
we would gladly record this remarkable testimony of the dying christian as he 
passed step by step over the mysterious river. It was published at the time and has 
been preserved by his friends. 

■[- Changed to " Fort" by some one of the family. 



SMITHFIELD. y^^ 

the long ago citizens of Smithfield. The late Allen H. 
Forte,* of Cazenovia, Avery Forte, of Peterboro, and Mrs 
Myron H. Bronson, (mother of the Bronsons famous in 
muskal circles,) are of John Forte's family. 

The Bronson family so well known in Smithfield, are of 
the family of Deacon Simeon Bronson, (formerly " Brown- 
son,") who settled on the Mile Strip in Fenner, 1802. Dea- 
con Bronson's wife, Lucinda Gleason Bronson, died, leav- 
ing him with a family of eight children. He subsequently 
married Lucretia Stewart, by whom he had nine children. 
The youngest of the first family is the father of the above 
named Bronson singers, viz : — Lorenzo, Aurelia, Willie and 
Mellie Bronson. 

Moses Rice came early and settled, probably in the Fen- 
ner part of Smithfield. He afterwards removed to Quality 
Hill, served in the waFi.of 1812, came home on a furlough 
and died of camp fever. > His eldest son, Billings Rice, is 
the only one who remained in this part of the county. The 
celebrated Rice vocalists, viz. : — Warren, Moses, Henry, 
Simeon, Sarah, Florence and Maria, all distinguished as 
public singers of rare talents, are children of Billings Rice, 
of Smithfield. Mrs. Avery Forte, one of his daughters, 
resides in Peterboro. 

In the winter and spring of 1813, sickness of a type 
previously unknown, prevailed throughout Central New 
York, and it is believed in all pirts of the State. Having 
no other name for it, physicians called it " the Epidemic," 
by which name it came to be generally known, and when- 
ever referred to or spoken of from that day to this, it has 
been called by no other. Its victims were prostrated at 
once and sank rapidly to utter helplessness and delirium, 
from which no stimulant or manner of treatment could 
arouse them. In numerous cases, persons attacked with it, 
though in the prime of life and previous vigorous health, 

* Father of Irwin A. and Irving C. Forte, former publishers of the Cazenovia 

Republican, the latter the present editor of that paper. 

S2 



706 MADISON COUNTY. 

sank away and died in from four to ten days ! In the town 
of Smithfield there were probably more than one hundred 
cases, a very large per centage of which proved fatal. Its 
first victim was an interesting youth of some sixteen years, 
who died on the 12th day of January. Thenceforward till 
late in March, funerals occurred throughout the town 
almost daily, sometimes several on the same day in different 
sections. In one instance, on March 14th, four adults were 
buried in the old Peterboro cemetery, all within a few hours. 
These four were all advanced in life. Three of them were 
maiden sisters by the name of Downing, who had always 
/ived together, and in their death were almost literally undi- 
vided, all dying within thirty hours. The fourth was an 
aged man, an early settler in the town, living but a few rods 
from the residence of the Downing sisters. It is believed 
that there were olh t burials in town on this same day. 
Early in April the sickiic ss abated ; new cases became of 
less frequent occurrence and cl a milder type ; and, as the 
season advanced, the mysterious visitation wholly disap- 
peared. 



In 1806, there were ten buildings in Peterboro, — Judge 
Smith's house, since re-built and enlarged by Gerrit Smith ; 
the Aylesworth house, then the Livingston store ; the grist 
mill and saw mill ; the rest dwellings. 

After the organization of the town in 1807, the first 
town meeting, in April of the same year, was held at the 
school house near Fenner Corners. The spirited efforts of 
the eastern Smithfield voters to secure the election of their 
officers, and of the adjournment of the meeting to Peter- 
boro, is noted in the Fenner Chapter. Peter Smith was 
elected Supervisor, and Daniel Petrie, Town Clerk. In 
June of this year, Peter Smith, who had been one of the 
Associate Judges of the County Court, was appointed first 
Judge, and the office of Supervisor became vacant. Con- 
sequently, a special town meeting was held July i8th, at 



SMITHFIELD. ^^^ 

which Roswell Glass was chosen to fill the vacancy. At 
the second annual town meeting, Asa Dana was chosen 
Supervisor. 

At this period the county began agitating the question of 
the county seat. Cazenovia and Smithfield put forward 
their claims for the permanent location. A forcible ar^^u- 
ment in favor of Smithfield by her citizens was the fact 
that the town was more central than Cazenovia, Hamilton 
and some other points. The question however was not 
decided for a number of years, and Madison County had 
no jail or court house when the second criminal offence 
came before the courts. Even when it seemed settled, by 
the erection of the court house in Cazenovia, like Banquo's 
ghost the mooted question would rise again in the form of 
"centering," and would not "down" until it had finally been 
located at Morrisville, in the year 1817. 

The above mentioned second instance of capital crime 
had its denouement in Smithfield, the murderess, Mary 
Antone, (daughter of Abram,) being executed in Peterboro 
in the autumn of 18 14. The Indians disputed the right 
of the white-man authorities to interfere with their customs, 
or to exercise jurisdiction over them in criminal or other 
cases where the parties were of their race, and it was feared 
that there would be trouble at the execution, as Abram 
Antone and one of his sons, Mary's father and brother, 
came over from Siloam painted and equipped in warrior 
style a few days before the consummation of the fatal 
decree ; and there was also a report afloat that Antone had 
said that " the man who hung Mary should die." Thus 
forewarned, Capt. Daniel Petrie signified to the members of 
his company that they must hold themselves in readiness, 
for they would be called on in case of any disturbance. 
The Indians were quite numerous in the village on the 
morning of the execution, and Capt. Petrie, having a good 
knowledge of the Indian language, took the occasion, as 
they lounged about his store, to make it plain to them that 



)g MADISON COUNTY. 

adison County officers in carrying out the laws were not 
sponsible for the execution of Mary Antone ; that the 
ws must be obeyed, and also that order must be main- 
ined. In their hearing, he directed some of his ir.t-n 
esent to have their arms in readiness to protect the 
ficers. The gallows was erected on the flat due west from 
e grist mill, and some twelve or fifteen rods from the 
lannel of the creek. Abram was there, grim, restless, 
ent ; sometimes moving about on the brow of the ridge 
)Ove the flat, scanning the multitude with a keen eye, 
here is a statement given the author that he was heard to 
ake the ominous threat, as he pointed to Sheriff' I'ratt, 
Me kill him ! Me kill him!" and that the Sherifl". before 
;rforming the final act, called for Antone to come forward 
id take a last leave of his child ; that the latter's sinewy 
rm soon appeared upon the scafl^old. and without moving 
muscle of his stoical features, took the hand of his daugh- 
r and then turned silently ?way, neither betraying a sign 
' emotion. The fatal moment came and passed, justice 
as vindicated without even a whispered utterance or move 

opposition from the natives. It is said, however, that 
ntone afterwards sought Sheriff Pratt's life and that the 
tter settled his affairs and moved west. Be this as it may, 
lose who lived at that time know how surely Antone ex- 
:uted his threats, and how long he cherished and finally 
reaked his vengeance on John Jacobs, the principal wit- 
iss against his daughter. 

In the earlier days of Smithfield, the forests were dense 
id the swamps dismal, from abundance of foliage. Game 
)ounded, and it is said that wolves and bears were quite 
enty till 1827, about which period there was a great wolf 
.mt in this section. Panthers were occasionally seen till 
le years 18 15 to '18. A panther incident worthy of record 
id well authenticated, occurred about 18 18, on the old 
ounty Road between Peterboro and Clockville. at the en- 
ance of a piece of thick forest through which that road 



SMITHFIELD. ^qq 

passed for a distance of half a mile. For the information of 
those who have the curiosity to locate the spot we will say 
here, that the incident took place within the bounds of the 
farm then owned by Aaron Crary, and afterward by his son. 
This farm, it is believed, lay chiefly on the north side and 
adjoining the present north line of Smithfield, which would 
be in the town of Lenox. The adjoining farm on the Smith- 
field side, and which may have included a strip of this half- 
mile forest, was owned by Ebenezer Lathrop. Moses Howe 
lived on the same road, not far south of Lathrop's, about 
one mile from Peterboro. 

One morning in haying time, Mr. Howe called his boy 
Stcjihen, a lad of some eight or nine years of age, and told 
him he must take a horse and go to Clockville to mill — the 
mill at Peterboro being then out of repair — and told him 
also that he must wait for his grist that time, as he wanted 
the horse to draw in hay the next day, and the flour was 
needed for use in the family. So the boy started oft on the 
horse's back, with two and a half bushels of wheat under 
him on the saddle. It being late when the grist was ground, 
he started homeward as speedily as possible, and reached 
the border of the woods just at dusk, being then over a 
mile from home. Almost the first tree on entering this 
half mile of thick, dark forest road, was a gigantic elm, with 
one huge limb some twenty-five feet from the ground, shoot- 
ing far out horizontally over the traveled path. 

The horse suddenly pricked up his ears as he neared and 
came under this limb, and hearing as he thought a slight 
noise, the boy looked up, and there, poised upon the limb 
with glaring eyeballs, bared teeth, feet rapidly lifting and 
gathering for a spring, while every nerve and muscle seemed 
ready to burst with their fearful tension, was an enormous 
panther, apparently fully prepared to leap, and sure of his 
defenceless prey. Indeed it would seem that only a direct 
interposition of Providence could save that boy from the ter- 
rible doom staring him in the face ! But the very sudden- 



710 MADISON COUNTY. 

ness of the appalling danger, and the quick instinct which 
is often the offspring of a sudden and fearful peril, yet 
which would have probably and at once, either paralyzed a 
man with fear, or caused him to pause for the encounter, 
gave the boy a ready, almost superhuman keenness of sense 
and strength of nerve. He cried out to the horse in a quick, 
sharp tone which the noble animal, now all alive with fear, 
from his own instinct seemed to understand, and away he 
sprang with his double burden of flour bags and juvenile 
rider at a flying speed, which was heightened and intensified 
by what instantly followed. The fierce and undoubtedly 
hungry panther being thus suddenly and unexpectedly foiled 
when so sure of his victim, gave vent to his rage in the fright- 
ful yells peculiar to his species, which it is said are so fright- 
ful and appalling that no human being, when heard under 
such circumstances, is ever able to shake oft' the terrible 
sense of fear they arouse. The mad animal sprang instant- 
ly from his position, and then from limb to limb, and from 
tree to tree, howling, yelling, crashing through the dense 
tree tops after his escaping prey, and thus he followed 'till 
the horse and young rider swept triumphantly out of the 
forest into the clearing beyond, and left the wild brute to 
what we may well believe a bitter disappointment. Yet on, 
on, dashed the horse, the boy by this time almost overcome 
with terror, fearing the awful danger was still pursuing him, 
and permitted no slack of speed till he reached his father's 
door, himself and horse dripping with perspiration. 

'"You are late home," said the father, "and I guess you 
have rode pretty fast, hav'nt you ?" 

"Yes sir, I have," replied the boy caressing the horse, 
"and I think you would if you had been in my place. It 
will be a good while before I will go through those woods 
again after dark !" and here the boy was obliged to yield un- 
til he had recovered composure, when he briefly related what 
had happened. The father was astonished. There stood 
the boy quaking with the thought of what he had just passed 



SMITHFIELD. 



711 



through, and, the horse close by him, with drooping head, 
panting and dripping with sweat. His little son had run 
his horse over a mile, with the flour and bran of two and a 
half bushels of wheat under him. " 'Till this day," says this 
then boy, Stephen R. Howe (now Justice Howe of Oneida 
Co.) the awful fear I then experienced affects me sensibly 
when I recall the circumstances, and I never afterwards 
passed the spot without experiencing it." He further says 
that he did not again pass over that road till he was eigh- 
teen, when he was teaching school in Sullivan. On one oc- 
casion, when going home he found himself on the same 
road, at the same place, before he was aware of it, and just 
at dark. Said he, "I never ran faster than I did through 
those woods." 



The large town of Smithfield was destined to become the 
smallest in the county. The project to divide it was long 
agitated; it was finally accomplished in 1823, and the new 
town of Fenner formed of its western half Again, in 
1836, a large portion was shorn from its eastern part to 
help form Stockbridge. The first town meeting after the 
division, in 1823, was held at the house of Harry Nichols. 
In 1824, Nehemiah Huntington was elected Supervisor, 
and Thomas Beekman, Town Clerk, both of whom were 
eminent men in State and Nation. 

Smithfield has in one sense suffered from her habits of 
generosity ; for after giving most of her territory to other 
towns, she gave her men of talent and enterprise to the 
world ; to the cities of the east, the west, the north, the 
south; and consequently trades, arts, manufactures and 
professions in the course of time languished within her 

limits. 

At a former period, considerable business was transacted 
in Peterboro. At one time there were two glass factories, 
one distillery, one tannery, a grist mill, a saw mill, a card- 
ing and fulling mill, five stores, three taverns, and various 



712 MADISON COUNTY. 

mechanic shops, all together giving a supply of work to 
many people, and contributing to sustain a much larger 
population there, then, than exists at present. Years since 
the glass factories were metamorphosed into dwellings ; the 
fires of the distilleries also were long ago extinguished ; the 
grist mill was superseded by a better structure for the same 
business, and the tannery and some of the stores are among 
the things that are not, and the temperance reform, and the 
changes in the traveling world have disposed of two of the 
three hotels. Here was kept one of the first, if not the 
very first, temperance hotel,* properly so called, of the 
world ! Some of the first anti-slavery meetings in the 
United States were held here, and here from pulpit and 
forum has the tocsin of reform been repeatedly sounded 
during the last third of a century. The poor were ever 
kindly cared for in Peterboro, and the down-trodden, 
hunted slave found here a refuge from his pursuers and 
persecutors. Undoubtedly the first school in the United 
States established especially for colored children, was kept 
in Peterboro, which, however, was soon done away with, as 
caste on account of color was ruled here to be out of place 
in common schools, and poor black children were thence- 
forth allowed equal rights with the white. 

The first movements of the county in literature began 
simultaneously here and at Cazenovia. In 1808, the 
Madison Freeholder was started in Peterboro, Peter Smith, 
proprietor, and Jonathan Bunce, editor. It was after a time 
changed to the Freeholder, and continued till 181 3, when 
it was changed to the Madison County Herald, and contin- 
ued under that title several years. The early efforts in the 
cause of temperance brought into existence the Jorimal 

* We learn later that this temperance house was kept by David Ambler, Esq, 
about 1830. He was one of the early settlers of the south part of Augusta, but 
changed his rfsidence for a few years about that period to Peterboro. We learn 
further that he kept a temperance house as early as 1825, at the small hamlet near 
the north line of Madison, known in early times as Kurd's, Bartlett's, Ambler's, 
and lastly Newell's Corners. Squire Ambler died in Madison, at the residence of 
his son-in-law, Dea. Francis Rice, about i860, aged 86 years. 



SMITHFIELD. ^j^ 

of Madison County Temperance Union, a monthly, edited 
by Wm. B. Downer. The latter was changed to the 
Maine Lazv yojirnal, and was discontinued after an 
existence of something over a year. The Christian & 
Citizen, was published at Peterboro, in 1854, by Pruyn & 
Walker. 

It is somewhat remarkable that Peterboro, an unimpor- 
tant inland village, having no railroad or other great artery 
of communication with the outer world, should have been 
and should still be the scene of so many great public gath- 
erings, such as temperance, anti-slavery, political, religious, 
reform and free speech conventions, &c. Probably no vil- 
lage of its size in all our great country has equalled it in this 
respect. But we have an explanation at hand : It has ever 
been favored with the citizenship of distinguished and 
progressive men ; hence, though but a small village, the 
prevailing atmosphere of the place has been steadily genial 
and attractive to those striving for a higher plane. 

Peterboro has furnished public men as follows : — Greene 
C. Bronson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and 
Court of Appeals ; Thomas Beekman and Gerrit Smith, 
Members of Congress ; Henry A. Foster, State Senator 
for several terms, United States Senator in 18 — , and Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court in 1863; J. S. T. Stranahan, 
Representative in Congress from Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1855 ; 
Daniel G. Dorrance and Asahel C. Stone, also State Sena- 
tors. Peterboro is the native place, or was tor some years 
the home of five of the Sheriffs of Madison County, viz :— 
Elijah Pratt, John Matteson, Joseph S. Palmer, John M. 
Messinger and Asahel C. Stone. Neherniah Huntington 
and James Barnett, once Member of the Legislature, and 
Henry M. Rice of the United States Senate, are also Peter- 
boro men. We might extend this roll of honor were cer- 
tain dates and data, which we have failed after much effort 
to obtain, at our command. We however record a few 
brief sketches : 



714 MADISON COUNTY. 

Nehemiah Huntington belonged to the early years of 
Smithfield's history. He came to Peterboro in 1807, and 
became the first lawyer of the place. He was a graduate 
of Dartmouth College, being there a classmate o Daniel 
Webster, and was aged thirty-one when he came to Smith- 
field. He entered into every good enterprise which con- 
cerned the prosperity of his adopted town. His generosity 
and goodness of heart was conspicuous. His liberal edu- 
cation and good abilities fitted him for a wide field of use- 
fulness, but he was too modest to aspire to distinction in his 
profession. He, however, encouraged and assisted young 
men to make their way in the world, and several young 
lawyers received their first help from him ; his kind instruc- 
tions and fatherly guidance, aiding them in their first steps 
toward after success. His life was long and eminently 
useful, and at his death in 1855, aged 79 years, he was 
greatly missed. 

James Barnett succeeded to a position of usefulness, 
from the time of his commencing in the mercantile busi- 
ness in Peterboro, in 1838. He became successful in 
that business, which he followed there for many years. He 
stood high in the confidence of his fellow citizens, and was 
often called to official positions in his town and county, and 
in 1859 was elected from this county to the Legislature, 
In 1865 he was elected to the State Senate from this, the 
twenty-third. Senatorial District. During the late war he 
gave largely of his time and means, actively and effectively 
encouraging enlistments ; two of his sons volunteered, and 
one, the eldest, bravely met his death at Antietam. Mr. 
Barnett removed to Oneida some few years since where he 
still resides. 

Asahel C. Stone came to Peterboro with his father's 
family in 1808. He struggled with poverty in his youth, 
but gradually arose by his own efibrts to a position of influ- 
ence. He was a well known and able lawyer. He held 
many prominent and responsible offices, in all of which he 



SMITHFIELD. ^jr 

proved himself to be a man of superior ability, well sus- 
taining the confidence reposed in him. He was State Sen- 
ator from the 23d District in 1850, and at the time of his 
death, in 1866, he held the position of High Sheriff of 
Madison County. It was said of him, that, although esteem- 
ed and respected for his abilities, yet it was the kindness of 
his heart, his strong sympathy for human suffering which 
had most endeared him to all. He passed away tit the age 
of 61 years. 

THE EVANS FUND. 

In 1848 William Evans, Esq., of Boston, deposited a fund 
of $10,000 in the hands of Gerrit Smith to endow a "Home" 
for the poor of the town of Smithfield. He appointed Ger- 
rit Smith first Treasurer, designating that at each subse- 
quent annual town meeting the legal voters should elect a 
suitable and responsible person as Treasurer. The provis- 
ions he made were, that the principal shall be loaned in 
sums of not over $1,000 upon good bond and mortgage se- 
curity ; and that as soon after 1862 as the accumulated in- 
terest amounts to a sufficient sum, a farm of not less than 
fifty acres, within one and a half miles of Peterboro, shall 
be bought, and suitable buildings erected thereon as a home 
for the needy ; where under the most favorable auspices 
they shall be made to forget the necessities of their condi- 
tion, and where habits of self-respect, self-reliance, industry, 
prudence and economy, the underlying principles of suc- 
cess, shall be nurtured, while the healthy comforts of life are 
being enjoyed. 

The day which Mr. Evans set apart to execute his errand 
of love— the formal presentation of his gift— was Friday, 
September 3d, 1858, the forty-seventh anniversary of his 
birth. The day was one of festivities and rejoicing, a " red 
letter day in the calendar of Smithfield."* 

William Evans was born in Smithfield of very poor parents. 



* See Evans Memorial. 



•J\6 MADISON COUNTY. 

September 3d, 181 1. His earliest days were spent in poverty 
and privation ; but he inherited a good constitution and all the 
elements of physical and mental health. Trained to habits 
of industry, economy and morality by one of the wisest of 
mothers, the foundation of a grand and successful manhood 
was laid. He went into the world very young and very poor. 
In the course of years his name became coupled with the 
great enterprises of the day, — a heavy and successful con- 
tractor on public works. He amassed wealth, and devoted 
much of it to benevolent enterprises in various ways. 

The Evans Fund in care of Gerrit Smith, who has con- 
tinued Treasurer, has increased from ten to fifteen thousand 
dollars. The proper establishment of the "Home" is under 
consideration, but in the mean time its benefits are felt by 
the destitute, for the trustees pay over three hundred dol- 
lars a year to a committee of three responsible ladies, to be 
used by them as their judgment shall dictate for the relief 
of the needy of the town. For a time the Evans Fund was, 
with his consent, used to endow the Peterboro Academy, 
which then had its name changed to "Evans Academy." 
This building is now (1872) used for the purposes of the 
Home for orphan children, it having been donated for that 
purpose by Gerrit Smith ; and by the consent of Mr. Evans 
the use of the Fund has been appropriated to establishing 
the Orphan's Home. 

Peterboro Academy was incorporated January 23d, 1853. 
In i860 a report states that it had 42 students, 14 of whom 
pursued classical studies. The value of its lot and build- 
ings at that time was ^4,528 ; its library $2oy ; apparatus 
$174. Total revenues ^334; total expenditures $319. 
Number of volumes in the library 184. 

At a subsequent period, the Evans Fund became an en- 
dowment for the Academy and.it was then called the "Evans 
Academy." In 1870 the Academy building was donated 
for the Orphan Asylum, and the Presbyterian Church has 
been transformed into the Academy. 



SMITHFIELD. ^j- 

The Grpha7ts Home in Peterboro village, was established 
heie in 1870. The old Academy, a building of goodly pro- 
portions, three stories high, appropriately fitted up, was 
placed at the command of the Supervisors of the County, 
for the Home, by Gerrit Smith. Mr. Charles Blakeman and 
wife were appointed to take charge. Twenty children from 
the County Poor House were placed in their care. They 
are comfortably situated and resources for their advance- 
ment are constantly being multiplied. 

PETER SMITH. 

Peter Smith, the proprietor of the celebrated New Peters- 
burgh Tract, was born in Rockland County, N. Y., in the 
year 1768. Of his advantages in early life we have no data, 
but infer they were fair ; therefore we fin 1 him at the early 
age of sixteen (1784) entering as clerk in the counting- 
house of Abraham Herring & Co., of New York. For 
three years he served in this capacity, and where he was 
characterized for his brightness and activity, and his aptness 
in acquiring knowledge. From here, at the age of nine- 
teen, with a supply of goods for a country store, he removed 
and settled himself in trade at a small place called the " Fall 
Hill," about two miles below Little Falls. He remained 
bat a year here, and then went to Old Fort Schuyler, where 
he put up a log store, nearly on the site of the Bagg Tav- 
ern. He continued in the mercantile business in Utica 
several years, and also built two fine residences there, the 
last of the two having a farm of 150 acres attached to it. 
i^^Mr. Smith's unusual success in trading with the Indians 
and in dealing in the fur trade, attracted the attention of 
other men of enterprise among whom was John Jacob 
Astor, who became a partner with him in the trade in furs. 
At a later period they were united in buying lands. By 
a dextrous improvement of every sale of public lands, Mr. 
Smith early acquired a large fortune, having become the 
possessor of extensive tracts in various parts of the State. 

In 1794, he obtained the New Petersburgh tract of the 



7i8 



MADISON COUNTY. 



Oneida Indians, the history of which is given in the forego- 
ino". In 1802, he removed to Whitesboro, where he resided 
until his removal to Smithfield in 1806. Here he built the 
family mansion, which has since been much changed and is 
now (1871) the home of Hon. Gerrit Smith. 

Upon the organization of Madison County in 1806, Mr. 
Smith was chosen one of the Judges of the County ; in 
1807, he was appointed first Judge, and continued to hold 
that position till 1821. It was said by the lawyers of that 
day that he made a most excellent magistrate, that although 
his school education was limited he wrote a bold and free 
hand, and expressed himself well ; that his knowledge of 
human nature was profound, and few words were spoken by 
him in conversation that were not worthy of recording. 

All matters in his care received minute attention. He was 
known as a man of extensive knowledge, of careful habits 
and unceasing industry. Even among the Indians he was 
noted for those qualities, and in consequence they gave him 
the sobriquet of " Sawmill," meaning, " the man of incessant 
activity. 

The following anecdote, entirely characteristic, is related 
of Judge Smith : — A poor man entered the office of the 
Judge and took a seat. After witnesfing in silence for 
some rime the ease and rapidity with which the Judge han- 
dled his papers and dispatched his business, he drew a 
heavy sigh and burst out with the abrupt question : — 
" Judge Smith, what must I do to become a rich man ?" 
Dropping his pen and drawing down his spectacles as he 
raised his head, the Judge replied at once, yet deliberately, 
" Mr. Lawson, you must be born again." 

Sagacious and shrewd, he was also active and untiring 
in his efforts to accumulate, yet he was a man of his word, 
and too wise to be dishonest. Independent and fearless, he 
was at the same time modest and unassuming, and held 
himself as no more than the equal of those of lesser 
means. Excessively plain in his dress and equipage, and 



SMITHFIELD 719 

frugal in all his ways, he was even lavish where his feel- 
ings were enlisted ; for these feelings were deep, and his 
aftections ardent. In person he was five feet and eight 
inches high, and rather stout. The most striking features 
were his curved nose and hawk eye, which latter was keen 
and penetrating. His readiness of resource, and his 
promptness to circumvent a rival are well illustrated in a 
story that has already appeared in print, which is as fol- 
lows : — He was lodging one night at Post's Tavern, at the 
same time that Messrs. Phelps and Gorham were also 
guests. Mr. Smith occupied a room which was separated 
from the other land speculators by a very thin partition. 
In the night he heard them whispering together about a 
certain valuable tract of land which they were on the point 
of buying. Rising from his bed and summoning the land- 
lord for his horse, he was soon on his way to the land-office, 
at Albany. When Messrs. Phelps and Gorham had finish- 
ed their night's rest, and taken their breakfast, they jogged on 
leisurely to the same destination. What was their surprise 
when near the end of their journey, to encounter on his 
way back, Mr. Smith, whom they had so recently seen in 
Old Fort Schuyler, and how much more astonished to learn 
on reaching the office at Albany, that the coveted prize 
was his. Messrs. Phelps and Gorham paid Mr. Smith a 
handsome bonus for his bargain. 

Skenandoah, the " white man's friend," was regarded by 
Judge Smith with warm friendship, and he was frequently 
visited by the aged chief So harmonious was their inti- 
macy that Mr. Smith named one of his sons, Peter Sken- 
andoah Smith, in honor of this last chief of the Oneidas 
and in memory of their friendship. 

Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, all dur- 
ing their residence in Utica. Cornelia, wife of Capt. Coch- 
rane, Peter Sken. (Skenandoah,) Adolphus, who died at the 
age of 45 years, and Gerrit. In his marriage, Mr. Smith 
connected himself with the Livingston family, so well and 



720 MADISON COUNTY. 

honorably known in the early history of New York State. 
His wife was the daughter of Col. James Livingston of the 
revolutionary army, and sister of the wife of the late Hon. 
Daniel Cady, of Johnstown, N. Y. She was a woman 
esteemed lor her piety, for her rare intellectual gifts, and 
all the graces that adorn the true lady. She died August 
27, 1818. 

Up to the year 18 19, Judge Smith resided in Peterboro, 
attending to the various duties of his public office, and 
the arduous labors connected with the management of his 
large estate. At this period he conveyed his estates to his 
son Gerrit, and spent many of his last years in traveling. 
He finally settled in Schenectady, where he died April i 3, 
1837. 



Peter Skenandoah Smith, who died in 1857, was the eld- 
est son of Peter Smith, born in 1795. The noble and gen- 
erous qualities of his mind and heart made him greatly 
beloved by all who knew him. He died in Oswego, N, Y., 
at the age of sixty-three. 

HON. GERRIT SMITH. 

Gerrit Smith was born in Utica, March 6, i797- 
He received his education at Clinton, graduating at Ham- 
ilton College with the highest honors of his class in 18 18. 
In the language of Rev. Albert Barnes, once a fellow stu- 
dent with him, " his high social position, warm, generous 
nature, and acknowledged talents and scholarship, led to a 
universal expectation of a high career of honor and use- 
fulness." His life has more than verified these expectations, 
but quite likely in a direction least expected. The intel- 
lectual world was, perhaps, best acquainted with his quali- 
ities, yet it knew little of the individuality of the man, and 
little foresaw the career he would mark out for himself 

In the year 1819, Gerrit Smith married Miss Wealtha, 
only daughter of President Backus, of Hamilton College. 
Seven months of happy wedded life followed, and then 




y. 







SMITHFIELD. 



721 



death bereaved him. With his afifectionate and impulsive 
nature, thus thrown back upon himself, he redoubled his 
vigilance and energy in the care of the large estate, con- 
veyed to him by his father, (Nov. ist of the same year,) 
and thus bore up manfully under his early affliction. In 
January, 1822, he was again married to Miss Ann Carroll, 
daughter of Colonel Fitzhugh, formerly of Maryland. Of 
a family of seven children born to them, but two lived to 
the years of maturity. These are Mrs. Charles D. Miller, 
residing at Geneva, N. Y., and Greene C. Smith of Peter- 
boro. 

With a heart full and overflowing with sympathy for all 
classes of unfortunates, and with abundant means at his 
command, Mr. Smith early identified himself with the benev- 
olent enterprises of the day. In 1825 he connected himself 
with the American Colonization Society, with the hope that 
its projects and efforts would be successful and lead to speedy 
emancipation. He gave largely for its interests, but in 1835 
he withdrew and connected himself with the American 
Anti-Slavery Society, as a surer prospect of accomplishing 
the desired result. 

Though by inheritance arid purchase from fellow heirs a 
large land-holder, he nevertheless became strongly opposed 
to land monopoly and practically illustrated his sentiments 
by the distribution of 200,000 acres of land, in part amongst 
institutions of learning, but mostly among poor white and 
black men. His largest gifts in money have been in aid of 
emancipation and to assist the poor in buying homes. He 
made it a rule to give all he could spare. 

Mr. Smith was never a regular student of law, yet 
he was admitted to practice in State and Federal Courts in 
1853. He had been a student of men, measures, and stat- 
utes during a third of a century, and became a lawyer of 
rank through a steady, liealthy growth of intellect. 

In 1 86 1, and at intervals all through the war of the re- 
bellion, he made public speeches in favor of a vigorous and 

T2 



722 MADISON COUNTY, 

uncompromising prosecution of the war, and from time to 
time wrote and published circulars in the interest of the 
Union cause. 

For many years he had advocated by public speeches, 
published essays and appeals, a larger liberty of opinion and 
freedom from what he believed to be 'the bondage of sect. In 
1856, a volume of his speeches in Congress was published ; 
in 1861 another volume was issued, entitled "Sermons and 
Speeches ;" in 1868 "Letters of Rev. Albert C. Barnes and 
Gerrit Smith" appeared. 

Mr. Smith's religion is as comprehensive as his principles 
of freedom. It is essentially a religion of love. "Do unto 
others as you would they should do to you" is the religion 
of his life, taught by him in precept and by example. It fills 
his heart with the deepest sympathy and the broadest phi- 
lanthropy ; and yet, from convictions which have settled 
themselves in his mind after the maturity of years of 
study and reflection, it is emphatically a religion of reason, 
which discards all statements not based upon proofs which 
can be substantiated by the essence of truth ; it must be 
taught by facts, and not fancies. But in throwing away all 
that he cannot reconcile with his ideas of truth, he might 
remove the foundation upon which another's reason would 
stand. Let him place a broader, firmer stepping stone, not 
too high, before removing the rock on which the millions 
have rested their faith ! He holds that the religion of rea- 
son is tolerant and patient, because men are conscious that 
reason, mixed as it is in the human breast with ignorance, 
prejudice and passion, is not to be relied on as an entire- 
ly infallible guide. 

Against Slavery, Land Monopoly, Intemperance, and for 
Woman's Rights, he launched the force of his master intel- 
lect, always telling with powerful effect wherever directed 

In 1852, when elected to Congress, in defining his politi- 
cal position he thus gave a few of the "peculiarities," as he 
terms them, of his political creed : 



SMITHFIELD. 



723 



"I St, That it acknowledges no law and knows no law for 
slavery ; that not only is slavery not in the Federal Consti- 
tution, but that by no possibility could it be brought either 
into the Federal or in a State Constitution." It seems, that 
having defined his principles he went to Congress with no 
other aim than to defend and enforce them on every occa- 
sion when they were legitimate, or pertinent in debate. His 
memorable, speech on the Nebraska Bill brought up again 
the ever recurring question of Slavery ; and here he siezed 
theopportunity to enlighten the Honorable Body, the House, 
in his view of the laws of God and humanity. 

" 2d. The right to the soil is as natural, absolute and 
equal, as the right to the light and air." The " Home- 
stead Bill " called forth his masterly appeal for " homes for 
all," yet when the bill came up amended so as to limit the 
grant of land to ivJiite persons, he voted against it, "and 
that to " he says " nothwithstanding I have for so many 
years loved, advocated and acted upon, the great essential 
principles of the bill." He adds : — " The curse of God is 
upon the bill, or there is no God, There is no God, if we 
have liberty to insult and outrage any portion of His child- 
ren." 

" 3d. That political rights are not conventional, but 
natural, inhering in all persons, the black as well as the 
white, the female as well as the male." 

Witness this defense of a theory unpopular now, scarcely 
thought worthy of respectful notice then — " Woman's Suf- 
frage." 

" 4th. That the doctrine of " free trade," is the necessary 
outgrowth of the doctrine of human brotherhood ; and that 
to impose restrictions on commerce is to build up unnatural 
and sinful barriers across that brotherhood." 

" 5th, That national wars are as brutal, barbarous and un- 
necessary, as are the violence and bloodshed to which mis- 
guided and frenzied individuals are prompted, and that our 
country should, by her own Heaven-trusting and beautiful 



724 MADISON COUNTV. 

example, hasten the day when the nations of the earth 
shall " beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears 
into pruning- hooks ; when nation shall not lift up sword 
against nation, nor learn war any more." 

" 6th. That the province of the Government is but to pro- 
tect persons and property ; and that the building of rail- 
roads and canals, and the care of schools and churches, fall 
entirely outside of its Hmits and exclusively within the 
range of the 'voluntary principle,' Narrow, however, as are 
these limits, every duty within them is to be promptly, faith- 
fully, and fully performed : — as well, for instance, the duty 
on the part of the Federal Government to put an end to the 
dram-shop manufacture of paupers and madmen in the 
city of Washington, as the duty on the part of the State 
Government to put an end to it in the State." 

" 7th. That as far as practicable, every officer, from the 
highest to the lowest, including especially the President and 
Postmaster, should be elected directly by the people." 

In his speech on the then late war with Mexico, also that 
on the Pacific Railroad Bill, his letter to Senator Hamlin 
on the Reciprocity Treaty, and his speech on the bill mak- 
ing appropriations to the naval service, he availed himself 
of the privilege to defend and enforce his views of each 
subject. How heroically he battled for his principles of 
right the reader of those speeches will readily feel. In the 
bill making appropriations for the naval service, he en- 
deavored to introduce the following clause : — " but no 
intoxicating liquors shall be provided as a beverage." In a 
speech glowing with earnestness and anxiety for our nation- 
al welfare he insisted on its adoption, — only to see it fail. 
This was in July, 1854. He still persists in his arguments 
and entreaties to the people — finding that the government 
fails — to do away with all dram-shops and liquor selling. 
Just so persistently he fought against slavery, wisely direct- 
ing his forces, until he saw the huge superstructrue of evil 
crumbling: before him. The crisis came in a manner he had 



SMITHFIELD. 735 

not souo-ht and sooner than he had presumed to hope ; "he 
had builded better than he knew." 

One cannot rise from the reading of his speeches in Con- 
gress without beholding the man, as with the interior sight, 
in all the grandeur of his high manhood, standing alone, 
surrounded by opposing forces, boldly declaring most un- 
popular theories, defending with the might of a Hercules 
the rights of the down trodden slave. His cool, clear brain 
was never confused ; God-given power inspired utterances 
of God's truth ; he wrought under the illumination of the 
fires he had kindled upon the altars of truth, freedom, and 
universal brotherhood ; the weight of justly balanced argu- 
ments convinced ; his comprehensive mind weighed nation 
against nation, excusing not our own national sins more 
than those of others. He was a patriot, but more, a phi- 
lanthropist. If he erred, it was in the way of according too 
large liberty to the people ; for he advocated the principle 
that " the less a people are governed the better they are 
governed." 

But Gerrit Smith never loved the arena of political war- 
fare ; his deep sense of the wrongs which have been allowed 
to exist with no voice of authority lifted against them, has 
been all that has drawn him from the peaceful rural life he 
loves so well. Having been the manager, as well as the 
possessor, of the extensive landed estate inherited from his 
father, his general tastes and habits were of the more quiet 
and retired class. Amid the surroundings of nature, his 
great philanthropy and the wonderful sympathy for his fel- 
low-men has been in great part developed. Much of the 
vast property gathered by the shrewd management and 
thrifty enterprise of the father, has been judiciously and 
wisely distributed by the son, in obedience to the holy les- 
sons learned. 

In his home, wealth has been expended for the cultivation 
of all intellectual tastes and domestic virtues, and everything 
is in keeping with the largest hospitality. Harmony and 



726 MADISON COUNTY. 

affection preside. Mrs. Smith is a lovely woman. Her 
devoted and religious character is conspicuous, and her fine 
and elevated mind grasps the beautiful and the pure, and 
worships the noble and the good. 

SILOAM. 

This small village is located in a deep valley, through 
which the Cowassalon Creek flows.. On the east rises the 
ridge, or rather stretch of highland, which separates the 
Oneida Creek, or Stockbridge valley, from the Cowassalon 
valley. Westerly rises another range of the water-shed. 
The old Peterboro Turnpike passes through this village. 
As one descends the steep hills from the westward, at a 
curve in the road he is suddenly surprised at the sight of 
the little " ville" nestled so cosily at the base of the hills in 
the narrow, deep valley. He sees first — and conspicuously 
from his standpoint — on the pretty landscape, the round, or 
octagon building painted white, Mr. Hardy's apiary. It is 
constructed on the most modern or scientific plan for bee- 
keeping. He sees at least two large buildings, which were 
once taverns, one of which is converted into a cheese facto- 
ry ; and then the old Baptist church, somewhat hoary with 
age, not a large building, and without a steeple — an append- 
age it never had — in the rear of which is the old burial 
ground, with many old, and some new headstones. This 
last was built about 1820. Siloam has now, (1872,) some 
fifteen or twenty dwelling houses, some of them not in the 
style of to-day, and wearing the aspect of age, though they 
were reckoned pretty cottages in the day of their erection. 

This place was settled about 1803. Its first pioneer is 
said to have been John or George Gregg. The next were 
Capt. Joseph Black, a Mr. Cowen and a John and Jacob 
De Mott. 

Capt. Joseph Black kept the first tavern of the place, in a 
log house, about 1804 or '05 ; the next was kept by his son, 
John Black, and the third by J. Ellenwood, about 1808, in 
a small house built by himself This building was demol- 



SMITHFIELD. ' 727 

ished in the summer of 1871, thus obhterating a rather old 
landmark. The first grist mill of the village — the one in 
operation now — was built in 18 10, by Jeremiah Ellenwood 
and Elijah Manley, and the first saw mill, in the same year, 
by Ellenwood and David Coe. The present owner of this 
grist mill is Hosea W. Holmes. The first store was kept 
by Alexander Ostrander and John Black, in 1821 or '22, 
but it started on a small scale as is illustrated by the follow- 
ing : — A few days after it was opened, one of the proprie- 
tors seeing a citizen that lived a mile or so out of the vil- 
lage, invited him in to see his store. The citizen walked in 
and apparently surveyed its contents with some degree of 
surprise, and then exclaimed, " Nice ! very nice ! just such 
an establishment as every man wants for his own conven- 
ience." 

Benjamin Palmer was the first physician located in Si- 
loam. 

In addition to the business of this place as above men- 
tioned, there were built at a later day a brewery and a distil- 
lery, by J. Ellenwood, another distillery by Daniel Dickey, 
(once a Member of Assembly,) and the third by Wilbur & 
Wales. These distilleries furnished whisky enough for the 
whole surrounding country. For some years before the 
Chenango Canal was completed, the two taverns of the place 
dealt out at retail about one hundred barrels yearly, there 
being in those years a large business done by teams, which 
furnished them patronage, hauling plaster through this sec- 
tion to the southern counties of the State. After the canal 
was opened the resident population refused to sustain these 
institutions by dram-drinking patronage, and they went down • 
There is now no inn in the place; but any respectable appear- 
ing traveller is able to obtain comfortable entertainment of 
the well-to-do citizens. 

The village was first known as "Ellenwood's Hollow ;" 
but Elder Beman, of Peterboro, gave it the Scripture name 
of Siloam, on account of the medicinal qualities of a spring 



728 MADISON COUNTY. 

of water here which was resorted to, to some extent, by in- 
valids. This water has proved very beneficial. It doubtless 
contains as many medicinal qualities as any other mineral 
spring of the many in this section of the State. It is still 
occasionally visited, but no improvements are made around it. 

The Baptist Church of Siloani. — The church edifice was 
built in 1820. Among the first members are Phillip P. 
Brown and wife, David Coe and wife, William Sloan 
and wife, John Warren and wife, Nathan Parkhurst 
and wife, John Stewart and wife, Capt. Joseph Black and 
wife, and Miss Fannie Wood. The church society was or- 
ganized January 5 th, 1820, with forty-five members. Elder 
Dyer D. Ransom was the first pastor. Elder P. P. Brown, 
now of Madison village, was pastor some ten years. When 
he closed his labors the church members numbered two hun- 
dred. After he left these dwindled away ; in a few years 
but a small percentage was left. 

The Presbyterian Church of Peterboro was instituted at 
an early day. Its early membership was not large. The meet- 
ing house was built about 1820. It was built on an exten- 
sive plan at great cost, the work being largely aided pecu- 
niarily by Gerrit Smith. It has recently been changed into 
the Peterboro Academy. 

The Baptist Church at Peterboro was organized about 1 8 10. 
Meetings were regularly held in school houses and private 
dwellings until 1820, when the Baptist meeting house was 
built. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Peterboro. — This so- 
ciety was first organized as a class on Mile Strip in Febru- 
ary, 1830, by Rev. Isaac Puffer, assisted by George Butler, 
a local preacher. Meetings were held in the school house. 
About sixty persons were connected with this society. Sub- 
sequently this society was transferred to Peterboro where 
they held meetings in the Presbyterian Church. In 1853 
the society was reorganized and the same year built their 
meeting house. 



STOCKBRIDGE. 729 



CHAPTER XVI 



STOCKBRIDGE. 

Boundaries. — Geography. — Home of the Oneidas. — Evidences 
of an Extinct Race. — Indian ReHcs. — Early Settlers. — Inci- 
dents. — Indian Neighbors. — The Oneida Stone. — Prominent 
Families. — Cook's Corners. — Munnsville. — Stockbridge. — 
Enterprises. — Churches. 

Stockbridge, lying upon the east border of the county 
north of the center, is bounded north by Lenox and Oneida 
County, east by Oneida County, south by Madison and 
Eaton, and east by Smithfield and Lenox. 

This town was named from the Stockbridge Indians, and 
was formed from Vernon and Augusta, Oneida County, and 
Smithfield and Lenox, of this county, May 20, 1836, which 
makes it the youngest in the sisterhood of towns. It has 
an area of 18,721 acres. It embraces a large part of the 
" Six Mile Tract " granted to the Stockbridge Indians in 
1784, and a portion of the Peter Smith Tract. Previous to 
the forming of this town, the bounds of Madison County 
did not extend west of Oneida Creek. 

The surface of this town is broken by two high ranges 
of hills extending from north to south, the summits of 
which are from 500 to 800 feet above the valley of the 
Oneida Creek. The chief branch of this creek has its 
source in Smithfield, and enters the valley in the southeast 
corner of the town. Its course is marked by the wildest 
scenery. Before entering the valley it pours down a series 



730 MADISON COUNTY. 

of cascades, low falls and rapids, which for beauty are not 
surpassed by anything in this part of the country. Numerous 
visitors are attracted to this romantic spot, which is about 
one and a half miles south or southwest from Munnsville. 

Another branch of the Oneida rises to the southward in 
among the convolutions of the northern hills of Eaton. 
These form a fair stream, upon which are many mill sites. 

Oneida Valley, deep, and narrow at its head, gently widens 
as the lofty ranges recede, and at the northern extremity of 
the town begins to spread out, and merges into the open 
level country of Lenox, From the low valley the forest 
capped hights, broken by rugged ledges and rocks white 
with lime deposits, appear magnificent. The valley, nestling 
far down at the foot of the hills, seems to rest in perfect 
quietness and seclusion. In the grand convulsion of nature, 
which ages ago rent these mountains asunder, there was 
formed a refuge, a haven of peace, for the races who first 
sought it for its seclusion. 

The soil of this region is a clayey and gravelly loam. 
Near the falls hydraulic limestone is quarried, while there 
are other considerable limestone quarries among the hills. 
Gypsum is found near Cook's Corners. East of Munsville, 
on the hill road leading from the depot, limestone rock 
abounds. Where the road winds around the high point,* 
it forms a wild and picturesque scene, — rocks overhang- 
ing the base of the cliff hundreds of feet, wide fissures, 
rough indentations, citing the mind to a period when great 
commotions of nature agitated this region. Caves, which 
have never been explored to any great extent on account of 
noxious gases, are found in this range. Upon the top of 
this ridge, near the roadside, runs a small stream which falls 
down among the rocks. Its bed, which shows the stream 
to have been once much larger than it is now, is full of 
large flat rocks of different kinds. In one variety there are 
plainly defined tracks, evidently made when they were in a 

* Musquito Point. 



STOCKBRIDGE. 73 1 

State of clayey consistence, — tracks of the feet of animals 
walking across, and of persons stepping about and standing 
upon them. There are the plain and quite deeply indented 
footsteps of a woman, and of the foot of a man — we judge 
from the appearance — and those of a child about eight 
years of age. The woman's shoes were of a marked fash- 
ion — narrow round toe, broad across the ball, shapely and 
small instep and heel, of a size perhaps number four. A 
slipper we have seen, worn one hundred years ago, is of 
similar shape. The larger boot, or shoe track, shows a sim- 
ilar fashion, nothing near so comely in shape, however, and 
of middling size for a man. There are several impressions, 
two or three inches deep, as if made by the unshod feet of 
horses, some of them, however, very large. There are 
tracks of the parted hoofs of cattle, and some easily distin- 
guished tracks of deer. The rocks in which these are im- 
bedded are dark brown, and are of fine grain. Of course 
the impressions were made when this was soft, and the pet- 
rifying process could not have been slow, or the action of 
rain and other causes would have effaced the indentations. 
We are led to conjecture that these now broad rocks were 
argillo-calcareous deposits, with an infiltration of silicious 
earth, which, by some change in the small stream, were but 
recently left bare when those footprints were made ; or, 
even those very persons by removing some obstructions 
might have slightly changed the channel of the water, leav- 
ing these deposits exposed to the air, and which, as they 
dried, became hardened. 

Stockbridge is an old Indian town, older than is general- 
ly supposed. There are evidences that the whole range of 
high hill east of Oneida Creek was once thickly peopled 
with a race of men, many of whom were very large in stat- 
ure. Their burial grounds have been discovered in several 
places from the south line of the town to the north, on this 
range. On the farms of Taylor Gregg and Ichabod Fran- 
cis, many graves have been found upon which large trees 



732 MADISON COUNTY. 

were standing, when the country was new. Indian relics 
were so abundant, and graves were so numerous that it is 
beheved there must have been a great battle fought here in 
the ages past. Beads could be picked up here and there 
in considerable quantities ; hatchets, axes,* and many other 
curious relics, are scattered about, having been covered 
with the accumulating soil of ages, and which the husband- 
man's plow brings to the surface. Curiosity seekers 
have carried off many of these relics, but there is, however, 
now and then an instance where they are allowed to 
remain. More than a mile on the road northeast from 
Munnsville Depot, in the woods, there is an Indian's skull, 
lying partly exposed among the rubbish of the woods. Sev- 
eral individuals are now living who noticed this same skull 
thirty years ago. It being in an out-of-the-way place, it has 
remained undisturbed till the present time. 

Some of the skeletons found in these burial grounds are 
of extraordinary size. One gentleman remarked that he 
took one of the large jaw bones and found it sufficiently 
ample to cover his own lower jaw. Another person stated 
that he took one of the skulls from which the base had 
decayed, and found he could place it with ease over the out- 
side of his own head. 

In 1869, before the " Cardiff Giant,"t humbug had been 
exposed, and while the public were holding " a court of 
inquiry," individuals having important facts in their pos- 
session gave them publicity. Among others, Mr. A. Somers, 
of Vernon, Oneida County, published the following : 

" There are rumors that the Indians have a tradition that there 
has lived in this country a race of tall men unlike themselves ; 
but said traditional rumor might or might not be true. Good 

* One man has a log chain which he had manufactured from axes found in this 
vicinity. 

t A large statue which was dug from the bed of a swamp in Cardiff, Onondaga 
County. It was at first supposed to be a petrified human body of an age pre-Ad- 
amite, or at least of the age when giants existed. It was, however, discovered to be 
an ingenious work of art placed there by some mercenary individuals, an adventure 
in which they were successful, so far as hoaxing the public to the amount of 
large sums of money was concerned. 



STOCKBRIDGE, 



71-i 



evidence, however, exists that this tradition is entitled to some 
credence. About twenty-five years ago, Mr. John Dunlap (since 
deceased,) father of Edward Dunlap, of Oneida, informed me 
that when the ground was being prepared for the barn on said 
Edward Dunlap's farm, which he now owns, in the northeast 
part of the town of Stockbridge, discovery was made of a 
deposit of human bones of extraordinary length and size. One 
of the leg bones was compared with his own by restino- it on 
the ground beside his foot, and said leg bone extended four inch- 
es above his knee. Mr. J. Dunlap was a man not over medium 
height, but allowing the framework of the body of which said 
leg bone was a part, to be in proportion to it, it would equal or 
more than equal the height of the Cardiff Giant. The narrator 
of the above did not speak so much of extraordinary size as length. 
He spoke of one skull being examined in which was an ounce 
leaden ball. From evidences that were- quite reliable, informa- 
tion was drawn that said dejDOsit of human bones were the 
remains of men killed in battle, many human bones havino- been 
unearthed by the plow from time to time on various parts of 
the farm, and quite frequently in years past war implements not 
found or known among the Indians, when the country was set- 
tled by Europeans, have been plowed up. Some of those war 
implements are much like those used by civilized nations a hun- 
dred or two hundred years ago, and some were of a much ruder 
pattern. 

L. H. Warren, Esq., of Augusta, Oneida County, writes 
upon the same subject under date of Dec. 17, 1869: 

" We add another bit of the same class of information, also 
indicating that a gigantic race, long since extinct, preceded us 
here in Central New York. Twenty and more years ago there 
was a strip of old forest included in the farm of the late Will- 
iam Smith, Esq., of Stockbridge, along the east side of which 
v/as a singular formed ridge, being long north and south, only a 
few rods wide, and oval. On the centre of this ridge for some 
distance, in a nearly straight line, numerous graves were formed 
at an early day, each being distinctly indicated by a little mound, 
some of them with a forest tree standing over the center, and 
many others with a tree intruding more or less upon one side. 
On opening these mounds, those parts of the human anatomy 
which are said to endure the longest — the skull, jaw, teeth, and 
the leg and thigh bones — were found well preserved ; some- 
times a skeleton would be exhumed nearly entire. The rings of 
the trees over the graves counted from three to four hundred, 
indicating at least as many years since the remains were deposi- 
ted there. The Oneida and Stockbridge Indians, so long in 



y:\^ MADISON COUNTY. 

possession of the same soil, knew nothing of the people who 
gave these relics sepulture. The place was visited from time to 
time by mercenary as well as curious people, and the mounds 
duo" open and plundered of other contents than mortal remains, 
for the mere sake of the plunder, which consisted of small brass 
kettles, iron hatchets, and various metallic ornaments. The 
bodies were found to have been buried in a sitting posture, as 
seems to have been the custom with the Indian tribes long, 
before the advent of white men among them ; and the most of 
the b'>nes exhumed whole and perfect were found very large 
as compared with corresponding bones of our day. Some 
skulls were said to be larger than the living head of the pres- 
ent white race. The indications are that these were really Indi- 
an graves and that the people to whom they belonged lived and 
flourished more than four hundred years ago — before the dis- 
covery of America by Columbus. This statement can undoubt- 
edlv be verified by many individuals still living in Stockbridge, 
and the evidences are that some time in the past, a people more 
formidable than we are as a race, existed in our section at least 
of the American domain. 

" How lived, how loved, how died they.'" 

There is evidence in the writings of the ancient travelers, 
and of the Jesuits, to prove that those remains of unusually 
gigantic proportions, were of a race who existed in Central 
New York full three hundred years ago, and who were 
called the Neuter Nation, Charlevoix, a French writer, 
says, that in the year 1642, "a people larger, stronger and 
better formed than any other savages, and who lived south 
of the Huron country, were visited by the Jesuits, who 
preached to them the Kingdom of God. They were called 
the Neuter Nation, because they took no part in the wars 
which desolated the country, but in the end, they could not 
themselves escape entire destruction. To avoid the fury of 
the Iroquois, they finally joined them against the Hurons, 
but gained nothing by the union. The Iroquois, like lions 
that have tasted blood cannot be satisfied, destroyed indis- 
criminately all that came in their way, and at this day there 
remains no trace of the Neuter Nation." The same author 
tells us that the Neuter Nation was destroyed about the 
year 1643. La Fiteu another French writer, in his "Maeurs 
des Sauvages," published at Paris in 1724, writes concern- 



STOCKBRIDGE. 735 

ing the quarrel between the Senecas and the Neuter Nation, 
which he had from the authority of Father Garnier, a Jesuit 
Missionary, 

Mr. Schoolcraft assumes that the Senecas warred upon 
and conquered the Neuter Nation, and came in possession 
of their territory, twenty-four years before the advent of 
La Salle,* upon the Niagara River. 

Father L' Allemant, a Jesuit Missionary in 1645, wrote 
that : — " According to the estimate of these illustrious 
fathers, [Jean De Brebeuf and Joseph Marie Chaumonot,] 
who have been there, the Neuter Nation comprises about 
12,000 souls which enables them to furnish 4,000 warriors, 
notwithstanding war, pestilence and famine have prevailed 
among them for three years in an extraordinary manner. 

After all, I think that those who have heretofore ascribed 
such an extent and population to this nation, have under- 
stood by the Neuter Nation, all who live south and south- 
west of our Hurons, and who are truly in great numbers, 
and, being at first only partially known, have all been com- 
prised under the same name. * * * They were named 
by the French, Neuter Nation, and not without reason, for 
their country being the ordinary passage by land, between 
some of the Iroquois nations and the Hurons, who are 
sworn enemies, they remain at peace with both ; so that 
in times past the Hurons and Iroquois meeting in the same 
wigwam or village of that nation, were both in safety while 
they remained. Recently, their enmity against each other 
is so great, that there is no safety for either party in any 
place, particularly for the Hurons, for whom the Neuter 
Nation entertain the least good will. 

There is every reason for believing that not long since, 
the Hurons, Iroquois and Neuter Nation, formed one 
people, and originally came from the same family, but have 
in the lapse of time, become separated from each other, 
more or less in distance, interests and affection, so that some 

* La Salle came in 1678. * 



736 MADISON COUNTY. 

are now enemies, others neutral, and others still live in 
intimate friendship and intercourse. The food and clothing 
of the Neuter Nation seem little different from our Hurons. 
They have Indian corn, beans and gourd in equal abund- 
ance." The writer also speaks of their fruit ; chestnuts and 
crab-apples such as -Hurons have, only somewhat larger. 
They differ from the Hurons in being larger, stronger and 
better formed. " They also entertain a great affection for 
the dead, and have a greater number of fools or jugglers." 

Father L' Allemant also speaks of the contest between 
them and the other nations, and thus adds : — "The war did 
not terminate but by the total destruction of the Neuter 
Nation." 

From what is derived from these statements it is probable 
that this nation was once in possession of the soil occupied 
by the Iroquois till a late period ;* that they dwelt in great 
numbers in this immediate vicinity, and that in their wig- 
wams the fierce Huron and the relentless Iroquois met on 
neutral ground. The evidence is strong that one of the 
great battles which obliterated the race from the face of the 
earth, transpired upon the very ground where the white man 
to-day, in wonder pauses to pick up a splintered arrow, a 
broken pipe or a quaint ornament, and with strange sensa- 
tions of awe, discovers those fragmentary parts of massive 
human beings once clothed with flesh and blood, and en- 
dowed with life and intelligence. 

We have lately come in posession of a tradition which was 
current among the Oneidas when the first white settlers came. 
It is related as follows : — Many generations ago the Indians 
dvvelt near Canada and having a difficulty with the Canada 
Indians fled to this region with the hope that this secure re- 
treat would not be discovered by their persecutors. For a 
time they lived on East Hill, but fearing the smoke of their 
wigwams would betray them should their enemies come up 

* One writer believes that the Kah Kwas spoken of by early travelers, are one 
and the same as the Neuter Nation. 



STOCKBRIDGE. 737 

the Mohawk Valley, they subsequently removed their fam- 
ilies to Stockbridge Hill. Upon "East Hill they left a few 
men to watch the eastern country, who made a huge pile of 
brush, which, in case of the enemy's approach, they were to 
set on fire to warn the warriors out. 

In time, their wary antagonists, by some curious art or 
instinct peculiar to themselves, tracked these Indians to 
their hiding place ; the great brush heap was fired, and the 
warriors rushed to the rescue of the few left on guard. On 
East Hill a fierce battle ensued in which all were destroyed. 
Even the women and children, who had rushed to the spot, 
fell victims to the fury of the Hurons. Here their bodies 
found interment, and probably the very graves we look 
upon with so much unsatisfied curiosity to-day, are the sep- 
ulchers of those unfortunate Indians of whom this tradi- 
tion tells us. 

In 1812 and '13 the Tuscaroras removed here and located 
mostly in Oneida Valley and vicinity. The Oneidas, who 
were their immediate predecessors upon the soil, had then 
mostly congregated at Oneida Castle, when they offered the 
Tuscaroras a home. These Tuscaroras it is believed planted 
the large orchard in the southwest corner of Vernon, ad- 
joining Stockbridge, which was a very old orchard when 
the first white inhabitants came to Oneida County. 

From documents preserved in the State archives we get 
now and then a faint glimpse of this region and of its in- 
habitants. Although dim are the views we gain thereby, 
yet these have their charm. 

We learn how the missionaries sought to educate the Tu.s- 
caroras, at the Lebanon School for Indians, in Massachu- 
setts, and were not generally successful on account of the 
homesickness of the Indian youths, who pined for their na- 
tive air. To obviate this difficulty a school was establis'.ed 
at the Tuscarora village and Edward Johnson was sent on 
as school-master. We have only one of his letters to tell 
us how he fared among the natives. It is dated from Tus- 

U2 



yT^S MADISON COUNTY. 

carora Castle, April loth, 1782, and is written to Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, asking for pecuniary assistance, and describ- 
ing his trials and dangers. He speaks of two classes among 
the Indians, one for, and the other against religion, the lat- 
ter always striving to injure him, sometimes showing a dis- 
position to take his life. He remarks of having a class of 
eighteen scholars at Oneida, besides his school at Tuscarora. 
At this school was David Fowler, a Montauk Indian, and 
Samson Occum, a Mohegian both, afterwards, celebrated 
as preachers among their race, here and elsewhere. 

There is a tradition among the Indians which refers, un- 
doubtedly, to Edward Johnson, It is averred that one day a 
company of Pagans come down upon the quiet Indian set- 
tlement where the white missionary lived, and captured 
him, hurried him into a canoe on Oneida Creek, and pushed 
off, telling him that he did not know how to worship God, 
and they would now take him to their council and teach him 
the true way. Presently they were discovered by the Chris- 
tians, who followed in pursuit along the river bank. A trial 
of speed ensued, in which the men on foot outstripped the 
canoes, and succeeded in getting into the river and heading 
off the boat. A struggle followed, in which the white man 
was rescued, though not without his life being greatly en- 
dangered. 

The Tuscaroras became quite numerous in the Oneida 
Valley, and also had settlements on the Susquehanna and at 
Canaseraga. In 1736, their numbers were estimated by the 
French to be two hundred and fifty warriors, or one thous- 
and two hundred and fifty souls. In 1763, Sir William 
Johnson estimated them at one hundred and forty war- 
riors or seven hundred souls. During the Revolution a 
considerable number of them with the Oneidas joined with 
the colonists in the contest. After the war the Senecas 
granted them lands within the present limits of Niagara 
County to which they removed, leaving the Oneida Valley 
and the hill sides for the Stockbridges who had purchased a 
six mile tract of the Oneidas. 



STOCKBRIDGE. 



739 



Their removal from ,here occured in 1784, the Stock- 
bridges coming on the same year. Soon, all this tract was 
again peopled with red men, although the Stockbridgeswere 
not, at first, so numerous as their predecessors, numbering 
the first year only four hundred and fifty souls. Rev. John 
Sergeant came with them, and as a first step toward plant- 
ing right institutions, formed a church. He built a meeting 
house which was located at what is now Cook's Corners, and 
which is yet standing. From its unassuming exterior one 
may readily judge it to be what it is, a fiouse of antique 
origin. 

Here, Rev. Mr. Sergeant taught the natives to perpetu- 
ate the name of God, and induced them to further take in- 
terest in such arts as benefited white men. 

About 1794, they built a grist mill and sawmill, nearly on 
the site of the present grist mill at Cook's Corners. 

The Stockbridge Indians increased in numbers, and by the 
time the first white settlers came to this region, their cabins 
dotted the whole valley of the Oneida. The productive 
sheltered valley was, however, tempting to white settlers^ 
and many came in and rented farms of the Indians. By 18 12 
these renters began to increase in considerable numbers, 
particularly in the hill sections, as the Indians were loth to 
part with the valley lands. West Hill, along Oneida Turn- 
pike, was quite thickly settled before the Stockbridges made 
their first sale. 

In 1818, the State purchased of this nation a tract com- 
prising 4,500 acres, for which, together with some other 
lands, they received $5,380, and an annuity of $282.49. 
West Hill was included in this sale. In 1822, in 1823, in 
1825, in 1826, in 1829 and in 1830, treaties were held in 
which the Stockbridge Indians sold to the State other por- 
tions of their reservation, usually receiving a part of the 
sum due at the time of the treaty, the remainder to be paid 
subsequently under conditions agreed upon. The tracts 
purchased at these different sales are variously named in 



740 



MADISON COUNTY. 



documents as, West Hill Tract, East Hill Tract, Mile Strip, 
Oneida Creek Tract, New Guinea Tract, &c. As late as 
1842 and 1847 agreements were executed between the Com- 
missioners of the Land Office and the Stockbridge Indians 
of Wisconsin, relative to certain lots in Stockbridge. 

After the State had obtained possession of these tracts 
they were purchased by white settlers, many of whom had 
previously rented. We have the names of some of the pur- 
chasers on those tracts ; how many were early settlers we 
are unable to tell. They were ; — Oliver Robbins, Nathaniel 
Hurd, Michah Higley, John J. Knox, Northeast part of 
Stockbridge ; Heman Grover, Jonathan West, Moses 
Wheeler, Tnaddeus Muzzy, Joel Smith, Wm. H. Smith, 
Nathan Marvin, Erastus Brewer, Fancis Greene and David 
Manchester, East Hill Tract ; Justus Durkee, Philo Chapel, 
Thomas Hart, Chapin Kelly, George Gregg, Thomas Reilly, 
Joseph Tucker, Michael Carr, John Murray, James Moon, 
Cornelius Patrick, James Newkirk, Lyman G. Sloan, Syl- 
vester Pettibone, and Herman Knox, West Hill Tract ; 
James Burleson, Harvey White, Varnum Jaquay and David 
Powers, Mile Tract, New Stockbridge ; also, on the purchase 
of 181 3, Abijah Reed and Myron Guthrie. On the pur- 
chase of 1825, Asa McDoel, Alonzo Paige, John E. Water- 
man, William Paige, Mary Paige, William T. Gregg, Cyrus 
Gregg, John Carter, and William Wright. On the New 
Guinea Tract, Nathan Pendleton and John Baldwin. 

John Hadcock was one of the earliest white settlers of the 
valley. His father, Daniel Hadcock, removed from Vernon 
in 181 1 and located on the farm now owned by the son. 
When quite young John Hadcock obtained a permit from 
the government to trade with the Indians, and set up a small 
store on the east limits of his farm. This was probably the 
first store in Stockbridge. He, however, spent but a short 
time in this vocation. He interested himself in ndian af- 
fairs, learned their customs and acquired a knowledge of 
their language. In the settlement of some difficulties in 



STOCKBRIDGF, 



741 



reference to the claims of members of the Sergeant family 
on the "orchard" lands, John Hadcock rendered efficient 
service, for which, he was for a period constituted Indian 
agent. He married a daughter of Angel De Ferriere, and 
settled on the farm he still owns, one of the best of Oneida 
Valley. 

The Hadcocks were of English ancestry, estabhshed in 
America before the Revolution. Three brothers, one of 
whom was Daniel Hadcock the pioneer, were in the battle 
at the taking of Burgoyne, having volunteered just previous 
to the battle for the patriotic purpose of fighting and taking 
that General. One of the three brothers was wounded unto 
death. When peace was restored, Daniel Hadcock, with 
Michael Kern and Hiram Moyer, who had been sent to 
Chittenango on some official business, picked out farms in 
the vicinity of Oak Hill in that town. Hadcock lived there 
in 1794, and afterwards moved to Vernon from which place 
he came to Stockbridge, as above stated. 

In the north part of the town, the Peterboro and Oneida 
Turnpike invited white settlers, to whom the Indians leased 
their lands. Farms were laid out in one hundred acres each, 
which were only sixty rods wide on the turnpike. This gave 
the street a compact settlement, and had a tendency to in- 
duce emigration. When the farms were all occupied on 
West Hill in School District No. 19, (lying jointly in Stock- 
bridge and Smithfield,) there were seventeen houses more 
than there are now, and there were upwards of ninety schol- 
ars to draw public money, while at present there are not 
more than thirty, all told. 

When settlers first came, the Turnpike had several gates 
and numerous taverns. Before 18 18, however, the gates 
were removed and the turnpike was thrown open as a pub- 
lic highway. One of the earliest settlers on this street was 
Joel Baker, who came in from Augusta, and for a while lived 
with the Indians, then took a farm just in the edge of Smith- 
field. 



742 MADISON COUNTT. 

The first settlement in the town, however^ was on 
what became the Smith purchase, and was made in 1791. 
Those who settled here were Oliver Stewart, Calvin, Barney, 
John and Alfred Edson, William, Elijah and Joseph Devine, 
William Sloan, Benjamin House, Amos Bridge, James Tafft, 
Aaron, Matthew and Jarius Rankin, Jonathan Snow, Isaac 
Chadwick, Talcott Divine, Watrous Graves, and Daniel 
Thurston. The first marriage was that of John Devine and 
Polly Edson, in 1793. The first death was that of widow 
Anna Hall, in 1795. The first school was taught by Ed- 
ward Foster, in 1797. 

Among other early settlers of the town were John Gas- 
ten, Waterman Simonds and Austin Carver. These were 
of the old substantia] citizens, who, with others who have 
been named, were deeply interested in public prosperity. 

David Wood was an early settler on West Hill. James 
Cook was an early settler at Knoxvflle ; also Anson Stone. 
William Powers, Philander Powers, William Bridge, Chaun- 
cey Beach and Isaac Richmond came early. Dr. Aaron 
Rankin was the first physician of Stockbridge. He was 
greatly respected for his skill in his profession, and honored 
for his good and noble qualities as a man. On his death, 
James Rankin succeeded him, and worthily filled his place. 

Thaddeus Camp and Lebbeus Camp were early settlers ; 
also William Sloan, at Knoxville, Benjamin House further 
north, James Tafft on West Hill, J. Snow on the " Strip" ; 
also a Mr. Chadwick and Thurston on the hill north of the 
"Strip." The above statements are from widow Mary Free- 
man, who, with her husband, Philip Freeman, removed from 
Goshen to Stockbridge sixty-one years ago. She is now 
eighty-six years of age, and has remarkably well preserved 
powers of body and mind. She has sound teeth, good hear- 
ing and eyesight, and frequently walks to Knoxville to 
church, a distance of two miles. 

John Gregg came from Augusta in 1812, and leased one 
of the Indian lots 01 West Hill. His son, Absolom Gregg, 



STOCKBRIDGE. 743 

subsequently settled on the Mary Doxtater farm, at the foot 
of the hill on the west side of Oneida Valley, This farm 
was famous for having on it "Council Spring," where the 
Indians used to meet in open and secret conclave. David 
Gregg, a son of Absalom, lives on the farm, and near his 
barn the old spring can yet be seen. Absalom Gregg died 
here July 3, 1871, aged seventy-two years. He was a man 
extensively known in business circles all through this region. 
He was for several years an active Director in the Oneida 
Valley National Bank. 

Taylor Gregg, also from Augusta, a cousin of the above, 
settled on the hill east of Munnsville. The old Indian 
council ground was situated on his farm, and from here 
Council Rock was removed in 1846. The sons of Taylor 
Gregg have been prominent citizens of Stockbridge. 

The Greggs were originally a noted family who came to 
America in 17 19, when more than one hundred families 
from the north of Ireland emigrated and settled in the town 
of Londonderry, New Hampshire. This company intro- 
duced the foot spinning wheel, the manufacture of linen and 
the culture of potatoes. From these Greggs originated all 
the Greggs of this country, some of them coming trom Lon- 
donderry to Stockbridge. Major Samuel Gregg, of Revo- 
lutionary fame, was grandfather of John Gregg, the above 
named early settler of Stockbridge. 

The family have preserved their "Coat-of-Arms," which 
is handed down from generation to generation. Its origin 
dates back to a period coeval with Robert Bruce, their fore- 
fathers being Scotch. The name was then spelled Gragg. 

Abner Warren, son of John Warren, came from Augusta, 
Oneida Co., to Stockbridge West Hill in 18 16, then a youth 
of 17 years. Under an arrangement effected by the father, 
the farm now owned by Abner Warren was leased of the 
Indians, he paying for the "betterments" made by the 
former occupant, and in addition, $60 on the 100 acres for 
a three years' lease. Afterwards he leased the same land at 



744 MADISON COUNTY. 

$30 per year, till the State purchased the tract upon which 
it is situated, of the Indians, when he purchased it of the 
State. The " betterments " consisted of four acres cleared 
land, which was all the clearing made when the family of 
John Warren came upon the place. By degrees the father 
and son cleared and developed one of the handsomest farms 
in Stockbridge. The old log house, occupied by the family 
for many years, stood a few rods north of Abner Warren's 
present residence, which the latter built in 183 1, having 
previously come into possession of the farm. In this house 
John Warren and his wife died many years ago, he, at an 
advanced age. Abner Warren, now 73 years of age, has 
lived in the same home since he was 17. His beautiful 
location, from which he has a splendid view of the Oneida 
creek valley far to the north, and of an immense range of 
country reaching into Oneida and Lewis counties, has 
always pleased him. In 1825, fifty acres were added to the 
original homestead, which now consists of 135 acres. 

Abner Warren married Miss Polly Percival, a daughter 
of Roswell Percival who came from Vermont, and was a 
later settler in Stockbridge. We remark here that the 
Percivals of Stockbridge, are of the same family of the late 
poet of that name. 

Abner Warren has long been a prominent citizen of 
Stockbridge, esteemed for his candor and practical judg- 
ment as well as for his abilities in matters of public interest. 
Rev. O. H. Warren, of the M. E. Conference, now (1872) 
pastor of Baldwinsville Church, and L. N. Warren, one of 
the useful and influential citizens of Stockbridge are his 
sons. (Note ^.) 

David Dunham, one of the first itinerant ministers of 
the new settlement, came with his father from one of the 
eastern States, to Westmoreland, and from there to this 
town to live. In that day Methodist ministers traversed 
large circuits, and that which was in Mr. Dunham's care, 
was a four weeks' circuit. David Dunham died about 1852, 



STC C'<BRIDGE. 745 

aged -jj years. His daughter Mary, wife of William Nelson, 
of Bennett's Corners, has in her possession the bible he 
carried on his journeys for thirty years, It was printed in 
the old style ty^^e, and is remarkably well preserved. 

Thomas Rockwell settled on East Hill in 1813. He 
bought the " betterments " of a previous settler, and pur- 
chased the land of the State for seven dollars per acre. 
His was one of the earliest settled farms of this section. 
On this farm was situated the Council Rock, this being 
what was known as " Primes Hill." Fifty acres of this 
farm which included the Council ground, was obtained by 
a subsequent settler, and Mr. Rockwell lost it. Thomas 
Rockwell resided on his farm till his death at the age of 
61 years. Two sons, substantial citizens and farmers, are 
yet living in this vicinity — Hiram and T. B. Rockwell. 
The name of Rockwell, occurs frequently in town and 
county official matters. 

One of the first purchasers who settled, and cleared 
a farm, upon the Indian lands in the east part of the town 
was Stephen Hart, whose father was one of the early set- 
tlers of Augusta. Stephen was, in some respects, one of 
the most remarkable men of his day. Nature had endowed 
him most bountifully with the rougher elements essential to 
pioneer life — vast physical strength, sound health, great en- 
durance, an unconquerable love for hunting, and wonderful 
skill as a marksman. Our informant who knew him well 
forty years ago, describes him as having been five feet six 
inches in height, deep chested, singularly sound in body 
and limb, and muscles as hard as iron. His weight was 
over two hundred pounds. We give an illustration oi his 
superiority with the rifle : — On one occasion he presented 
himself at a " turkey shoot" in a neighboring town, and 
joined in the sport. The turkeys were tied to a stool thirty 
rods distant from the shooters. When he arrived, fifty 
shots had been fired and not a feather ruffled. The dozen 
men who had been trying their skill ceased their efforts. 



746 MADISON COUNTY. 

Hart took the position prescribed in the rules, raised his 
rifle to his face, and holding it at arm's length, fired. The 
turkey swung from the stool, dead. Another was put up, 
and at his next shot, met the same fate. Then another, 
and another was put up, and as summarily dispatched, till six 
good fat turkeys were piled at his feet, the trophies of just 
so many shots in succession. The peals of laughter, and 
the loud calls on the owner by the crowd to " bring on 
your turkeys!" totally failed to produce them. He flatly 
refused to allow him a single shot more. 

When the forests were cleared away, and population be- 
gan to thicken around him, he said it was " getting too 
thickly settled and game too scarce." He sold his farm, 
and with his family went to Michigan, into a section be- 
yond the abodes of white men, and there built himself a 
new home. Fifteen years later, when that spot was too pop- 
ulous, he sold, and like the true frontiersman, fled from civili- 
zation to the wilds of northern Iowa, where he thought 
imigration would not reach in his day. In ten years, how- 
ever, he was again hemmed in " with the hum, the busy 
shock of men," but he had become an old man. Though 
paid the compliment of being elected the first Judge of his 
county, he refused to serve, and after his retirement, he at 
last met with an accident resulting in the amputation of an 
arm, from which he never recovered. He died in this last 
named western home in 1866. 

Cook's Corners is a station on the Midland. It con- 
tains a church, a plaster mill, a grist mill, cheese factory, and 
fifteen or twenty houses. The church was the old Indian 
meeting house built by Mr. Sergeant, now belonging to 
the Baptist society. The plaster works and grist mill are 
owned by A. B. Smith, Esq. The first grist and saw mills 
of the town were built by the Stockbridge Indians about 
1794, nearly on the site of the present grist mill. There 
was once a tavern here built by Cook from whom the place 
was named. 



STOCKBRIDGE. 74/ 

MUNNSVILLE. 

The first frame house in this place was built by Jacob 
Konkerpot, an Indian, Before he finished his house, he 
cut his limb with a broad ax, and died from loss of blood. 
A white family purchased the house, finished it and moved 
in. It stood on the very pleasant location of the residence 
of Ephraim K. Gregg. 

This village lies near the Midland railroad and has a depot 
here. It was named from Asa Munn, who came from 
Augusta about 1815. Assisted by W. H. Chandler of 
Augusta, Mr. Munn built up the mercantile business in this 
section. The store he built is that in which Frost & Lilli- 
bridge now trade. He built the dwelling connected with 
the store also. Eventually the whole premises passed into 
the hands of Mr. Chandler. It is now owned by William 
Sumner, by whom the store is rented to Frost & Lillibridge. 

Three Parmalee brothers, Sheldon, Horace and Solomon, 
built the grist mill. Horace also kept tavern at Stockbridge. 
While the grist mill was being built, a Mr. Doolittle, resident 
of this place, fell from the top of the building and was in- 
stantly killed 

Barney Cook built the tavern at Munnsville about 1825. 
It has been enlarged, improved, and fitted up in a style to 
meet the requirements of the present period. Where the 
grocery store is now, Oscar Bird used to keep tavern about 

1835. 

Robert Turner first started a small woolen factory where 
the present cheese factory is. This was burned down, when 
he again built on the site of the present factory. Mr. 
Turner was again unfortunate in losing his mill by fire. 
Blakeman & Whedon built on the same site the present 
Munnsville woolen factory. A large amount of goods were 
made here for a time. During the war, Broadhead made 
army goods in this mill. It has since run irregularly, and 
at present is not in operation. Several dwelling houses, 
and a boarding house belong to the premises, and when in 
operation, about forty hands were employed. 



748 MADISON COUNTY. 

Half a mile west of the village Asa Munn built a distillery 
about 1825. 

Stringer, Barr & Co.'s Agricultural Wotks are located in 
this village. • Their buildings were first made for a scythe 
factory, by Asa Runnels, about forty years ago. It was 
afterwards run by Daniel Holmes, (now of Fort Atkinson, 
Wis.,) who made axes and other edge tools till about 1850. 
Holmes, Stringer & Co. (S. Van Brocklyn, now of Rome, 
was one of this Company,) after that period went into the 
manufacture of agricultural implements. About 1858 Van 
Brocklyn went out of the firm, and in 1863 Holmes removed. 
The firm continued under the co-partnership of William 
Stringer & R. S. Barr. It is now operated under the firm 
name of Stringer, Barr & Co. The company run a saw mill, 
machine shop, foundry, and a mill for planing and matching. 
Every variety of first quality agricultural implements are 
made here, besides a great variety of castings, &c. 

TJie Stockbridge Academy was founded by Asa Munn and 
Thaddeus Muzzy, the school commencing in 1829. It was 
taught by Rev. D. M. Smith, in 1832. The school was at- 
tended with flattering success for a time. It was located on 
the west side of the village, on the rise above the meeting 
house. The building was taken down a few years after the 
decline of the school. 

KNOXVILLE. 

This village, known also as Stockbridge, is a pleasant lit- 
tle village, lying mostly on the west side of the Oneida val- 
ley. It was named from Herman Knox, who came to this 
valley about 1822, and built up the mercantile business at 
this point. Herman Knox was from Augusta, where him- 
self and brother, John J. Knox, had been engaged in the 
mercantile business, the latter being the founder of Knox- 
boro of Augusta. 

Herman Knox bought much land for sale in the Oneida 
Valley, and built up the village. He first put up a small 
store and then encouraged enterprise by selling out village 



STOCKBRIDGE. y^g 

lots, giving his purchasers most generous opportunities, often 
to his own disadvantage and loss. He built a grist mill on 
the site of the present one ; built the first store, which is 
still standing, and, being converted into a dwelling house, is 
now the residence of Mrs. Lyman G. Sloan. He also built 
a saw mill and a distillery. During Mr. Knox's stay of 
about a dozen years, the village grew to nearly its present 
size. 

David Wood came into Knoxville about 1825, and pur- 
chased part of Mr. Knox's store. The latter, after a time, 
sold out his interest in the store to Mr. Wood, and built an- 
other, which is the present store of Amideus Hinman. Mr. 
Wood subsequently bought that, and finally purchased all 
of the Knox property here, and Mr. Knox moved to one of 
the Western States. 

Herman Knox was regarded with great respect and affec- 
tion by the inhabitants. He had a generous and noble 
heart. He was the life of business in this part of the val- 
ley ; but his generosity exceeded his desire to accumulate. 

The tavern of Knoxville was built by Horace Parmalee, 
abcut 1830. There have been three churches built at Knox- 
ville, the Universalist, Congregational and Methodist. 

The Midland depot is a short distance east of the village. 

Five Chimneys is a tavern on the Peterboro and Oneida 
Turnpike in the northern part of Stockbridge. It stands 
at the foot of West Hill. It was originated by Charles (.^) 
Leland who came from Wooster County, Mass. to this place 
in 1826. He was enamored with the beauty of this valley, 
and belived that if enterprise could be brought to bear at 
this point, a village could be easily built up. He com- 
menced the project by building his famous tavern with its 
five stacks of great brick chimneys, that year. He also 
built a small store and bought a stock of goods. He, how- 
ever, soon failed and then went to Oneida Castle, where he 
again went into business, and again failed. He next re- 
moved into one of the Western States where he again built a 



750 MADISON COUNTY. 

tavern, and was successful, and where he died. "Five Chim- 
neys" is now an old weather beaten house, rather dilapidated, 
and wearing an air of grandeur in decay. 

CHURCHES. 

The Church at Cooks Corners was built in 1796 by Rev. 
John Sergeant, for an Indian meeting house. When the 
Stockbridges moved away it was used by various religious 
societies. Subsequently the Baptist society obtained the 
house, and for several years it has been used for their place 
of worship. Rev. Mr. Bainbridge was an early minister of 
this society. 

TJie Methodist Episcopal ChurcJi of Knoxville was organ- 
ized as a class about 1830. The church was built in 1832, 
Herman Knox being prime mover in the enterprise, donat- 
ing largely for the purpose. Meetings were held by circuit 
preachers for some years. Henry Halstead was first pastor. 
There were nine or ten classes on this charge for many 
years. The church edifice has been enlarged once since 
it was, built. It willl seat an audience of about five hun- 
dred, and is neatly finished and furnished. 

The Presbyterian Church of Mtuinsville was organized in 
1829 at the house of David Goodrich. The society was 
soon quite numerous. Rev. D. Smith was pastor in 1832. 
Meetings were first held in the Academy. The meeting 
house was built about 1833. 

The Uuiversalist Church of Stockbridge was built about 
1834. First meetings of this denomination were held by 
Rev. Mr. Wooley during two or three years previous to the 
building of the church. Rev. D. S. Morey waS first regu- 
lar pastor, who organized the society. Pastors who have 
served in this church are Revs. John Potter, Mr. Cargill, 
Robert Oueal, Hughes and Manly. Rev. A. H. Marshall, 
of Madison, is the present pastor. 

There was a Congregational Church built at Stockbridge 
about 1834, which was a fine, well finished building for its 
day. It stood on the lot next west of the tavern. _ 



APPENDIX. 



N'ote a. — Abram Antone was born in the year 1750, on the 
banks of the Susquehanna. His father was an Indian of the 
Stockbridge tribe — his mother, the daughter of an Oneida chief* 
When quite young his parents removed to the county of Che- 
nango, where for the most part he has since lived. 

Bold and adventurous, having been bred in the true spirit of 
his savage ancestors, he took up arms in favor of the Americans 
in the year 1776. It has been asserted that he was a British 
Indian, which he altogether denied. " I was," said he, " in three 
battles. I fought for the Americans, and fought bravely." On 
being asked how many of the enemy he had slain, " More than 
that," he replied, holding up both hands with the fingers spread, 
and then added that he could not tell exactly how many, 
" because," he said " though I often pointed my rifle, yet on 
account of much smoke, I could not always tell whether I had 
killed or not." He asserted that he had once been employed 
by Gov. George Clinton on a secret mission, and observed that 
he was a great friend to him. If this is true, it shows him to 
have been perfectly trustworthy, even if bloodthirsty and re- 
vengeful. 

The first murder of his which was well attested and to which 
he assented, was committed at Chenango Point about 1798. 
The Indian whose duty it was to distribute the government 
allowance to the different tribes, defrauded, or was believed by 
Antone, to have defrauded him of some part of the money. He 
consequently declared his intention to kill him, which he effected 
in the following way : At the raising of an Indian house near 
the Point, Antone, as usual on such occasions, was present. 

* It is said he descended, by way of his mother (through which line all Indian 
genealogy is traced), from " Thick-Neck," a savage chief who held dominion in 
Chenango, and who ruled the Indian village at Oxford many generations ago. 
Thick-Neck was subdued by the Oneidas, and the remnant left of his tribe were 
adopted into the Oneida family. 



752 APPENDIX. 

The Indian whom he had threatened was also present, though 
not without the precaution of being armed. Antone did not 
assist much, but sat on a piece of timber within the frame. He 
continued sitting there, till the house was raised, and the people 
assembled together to the number of fifty, for the purpose of 
drinking, when Antone suddenly taking aim, fulfilled his prom- 
ise by shooting the Indian directly through the heart. He 
then arose and walked deliberately off. The Indians buried the 
body and here the matter ended, Antone paying a sum of money 
to the tribe for a ransom. But the most atrocious deed of all, 
is one at which humanity starts with horror — a crime at which 
nature revolts, and which is almost without parallel — the murder 
of an infant child, and that child his own ! The circumstances 
of this event are almost too horrible to relate. It appears from 
the account of his wife, that returning from an assembly of In- 
dians one evening to his wigwam, he found his little infant of 
four or five months old vociferously crying. Impatient at the 
noise, the monster snatched the child from its mother's arms, 
and raking open a hot bed of coals, buried the infant beneath 
them. It might be hoped for the honor of humanity that this 
account were not true, but the fact was allowed by his wife, and 
well attested by others, so that no doubt can remain as to the 
truth of it.* 

•'To look at the old warrior," writes his historian, "one would 
scarcely suppose he could be guilty of so enormous a crime. He 
has a noble countenance in which there is not the least expres- 
sion of malice. On the contrary there is something placable 
and bordering on serenity in his features. His eye is pene- 
trating but yet expresses no cruelty. His voice is somewhat 
broken by age, but pleasant and sonorous. In short, no one has 
Sien him, but has gone away with a more favorable impression 
than when he came." 

The next thing of any consequence which occurs in his life is 
his removal to Canada. This appears to have been ten or 
twelve years before his death. While residing in that country, 
i 1 a removal from one encampment to another, he was overtaken 
by a company of men on horseback, one of whom insulted the 
squaws in Antone's company. On his resenting it the other 
struck him with his whip calling him an Indian dog, and rode off 
with his companions, laughing at the Indian's threats of ven- 
geance, which would probably have been executed on the spot 
hid not the offender been surrounded by a number of well-mounted 
civaliers. The indignant warrior left his friends to seek their 
encampment alone. Armed only with his knife he determined 
to follow his enemy till an opportunity should occur ofdispatch- 

. a0n. . m. ■ «»— . ^ ■ — 

* Liquor was, no doubt, the cause of his frenzied madness in this instance. 



APPENDIX. 753 

ing him. For many days he pursued the travelers without suc- 
cess, closely dogging them. Grown desperate he at length de- 
termined on a bold step. Disguising himself by painting his face 
warrior fashion, he entered a public house where the horsemen 
had put up. He was not recognized. Gaining the favor of the 
landlord by his peaceful demeanor, he was permitted to lodge 
before the fire. The observing eye of the Indian had noticed 
where the bed room of the doomed man was situated. He arose 
in the night and with a noiseless step, entered the room and find- 
ing where he lay, struck him on the left side ; the blow needed 
not repeatal ; and the groan of the victim was lost in the exulting 
yell of the savage, who burst from the house before the family, 
terrified by the demoniac whoop, could oppose him. The par- 
ticulars of this murder were received from a civilized Indian of 
the Stockbridge tribe, who probably heard them from Antone 
himself. Antone confessed to the murder of a white man in 
Canada. 

The next occurrence in order was the murder for which he was 
indicted. It will be necessary, however, to briefly mention a 
few events which took place previous to it. In 1810, Mary, the 
daughter of Antone,* formed a connection with a young Indian, 
it is said, of the Stockbridge tribe ; however, the connection was 
soon broken off, and the young man left her for one more agree- 
able. This so enraged Mary that she determined to kill her 
rival, which she effected by stabbing her with an Indian knife.f 
When arrested and on her way to prison she manifested a re- 
markable indifference as to her fate, justifying herselt concern- 
ing the murder of the squaw, by saying that ''''she had got away her 
Indian and deserved to die." She was executed in Peterboro, in 
this county. John Jacobs had been the principal evidence 
against her. He had also been very active in her arrest. In 
short, he was considered by Antone as the principal cause of 
her death, and before and after her execution, he openly threat- 
ened to kill him. Jacobs (who was also an Indian, or half- 
breed,) left the country and did not return till Antone sent him 
word that he would not molest him. Relying upon Antone's 
promise, he returned and engaged in his usual avocations. He 
was hoeing corn in afield with a number of men, when Antone 
came up in a friendly way, shaking hands with each one, and 
while grasping the hand of Jacobs in apparent friendship, slipt 
a long knife from out the frock sleeve of his left arm, pronounc- 
ing, "How d'ye do, brother ?" and quick as lightning plunged it 
into the body of Jacobs, striking him three times under the 

*Mary Antone was a handsome, bright Indian girl, yet, having much of hei 
father's revengeful disposition. 

•j-This occurred in Middleport, on the Chenango, south of Hamilton village. 

V2 



754 



APPENDIX. 



short ribs. He fell at the first blow. Antone, giving a terrific 
yell, bounded ofi" before anyone had recovered presence of mind 
sufficient to pursue him. That night he was pursued by a num- 
ber of Indians and was surprised in his hiding-place, but by his 
fleetness he escaped. He went constantly armed with a rifle 
and knives, accompanied by dogs, and his sons daily ministered 
to his needs while concealed in the forest. He was often sur- 
prised by officers in pursuit of him, but he managed to escape. 

There was an attempt to take him while encamped on a Mr. 
John Guthrie's land, in the town of Sherburne. Two large and 
resolute Indians having obtained information that Antone was 
alone in his camp, went with the full determination of securing 
him. They went to his wigwam and discovered him alone, 
making a broom ; but the ever-watchful Indian, hearing a rust- 
ling noise, seized his rifle, and, as they suddenly entered, point- 
ing at the foremost, declared if he advanced a step further he 
would shoot him dead. His determined manner appalled the 
pursuers, and after parleying with him a short time, they with- 
drew, very much mortified at the result of their enterprise. 
Antone grimly smiled as they turned away, for his trusty rifle 
was not loaded, a circumstance of which he frequently boasted 
afterwards. He at length grew so bold and fearless that he 
marched through our towns and villages in open day, without 
any fear of being taken. It is said that in the village of Sher- 
burne he entered a store in which there were about twenty men, 
and drank till he was intoxicated. 

Antone was finally betrayed into the hands of a posse of 
officers, by a man who won his confidence by professions of 
friendship. He decoyed him by getting him out of his cabin to 
have a trial with him in shooting at a mark. As soon as 
Antone had discharged his piece, the officers, who were sta- 
tioned in secret a few steps away, rushed upon and secured him, 
though not without a desperate struggle, for the old veteran 
fought manfully, exhibiting exceeding strength and agility, and 
was considerably bruised in the conflict. 

During Antone's confinement several pious people endeavored 
to explain to him the principles of the Christian religion. But 
he either could not or would not understand them. He had no 
idea of a Saviour. He mentioned through the interpreter that 
he put his trust in God, or more properly the Great Spirit. He 
was then asked if it was the God of the Christian, or the spirit 
which was worshiped by his fathers. The eye of the warrior 
sparkled as he readily replied, " The God of my Fathers ! " 

Until toward the last he nourished a hope of being reprieved, 
but when this hope failed he expressed a willingness to die, and 
only complained of the manner ; the mode of execution he re- 
garded as degrading. " No good way !" he said, putting his 



APPENDIX. 



755 

hands about his neck. " No good way to hang like a doo- !" 
then, pointing to his heart, observed that he should be wilHno- 
to be shot. He was, moreover, very anxious about his body^ 
fearing it would be obtained for dissection. He made no 
lengthy confession, but assented to having committed the mur- 
ders herein related, and only these. Several other atrocious 
murders had been attributed to him, which he utterly denied. 

The jury in his case, according to the facts elicited by the 
testimony, and agreeable to our laws, rendered a verdict of 
" guilty," and according to his sentence he was executed in 
Morrisville, on Friday, the 12th day of September, 1823. A larc^e 
delegation of his own race were present. The execution was a 
public one, and a great concourse of people witnessed it. 

Note b. — Charles, Job, Naboth, Amos, Jonathan, Nathan, 
Catharine, Sally, Lewis, Nancy, Mary, Polly, and Phebe Welch 
were the names of the Welch family of the pioneers of Brook- 
field. 



Note c. — Death of Ledyard Lincklaen — In Cazenovia, 
April 24th, 1864, Ledyard Lincklaen, Esq., in the 44th year of 
his age. This sad announcement will awaken feelings in this 
community and elsewhere which are seldom so stirred by an 
obituary notice. Mr. Lincklaen was an extraordinary man, and 
his loss a public one of no ordinary magnitude. But a few years 
since he came forward endowed with a finished education, en- 
larged by foreign travel, and possessing a mind peculiarly fitted 
for the investigation of the popular branches of natural history, 
in which he soon made such progress as to challenge the atten- 
tion and acquire the respect of many of the foremost men of 
science in that department. With ample leisure and means to 
prosecute his favorite course of study and investigation, his 
friends indulged the reasonable expectation that at the proper 
time of life, and, indeed, much>-earlier than usually happens, he 
was quite sure to take his place among the leading scientific 
men of the land. But these fondly cherished hopes were doomed 
to be crushed by the prostration of his hitherto vigorous health, 
which commenced a few years since and has finally stricken 
him down in the prime of life and in a manner almost if not en- 
tirely inscrutable to the best medical minds of the country. But 
what are the blighted prospects of public usefulness to the more 
deadly blight with which this bereavement falls upon his family 
connection, and a whole community of friends? 

Mr. Lincklaen was born, and has always lived in this place ; 
and it may be said with truth that he has lived an unblemished 
life in all the relations of the family, the neighborhood and of 



756 APPENDIX. 

society. He was a rigidly just man, a strict consciencious man^ 
and a habitually kind and benevolent man. These leading 
characteristics never bent to outward circumstances, and were 
never influenced by considerations of a personal nature. Sel- 
fishness formed no part of his character, and duty never was sur- 
rendered to fear, favor or partiality. Sincerity, both of word and 
action, was one of his marked characteristics, and so strong was 
its influence that he never became what the world terms a po- 
lite man, though his intercourse with others was always kind, 
genial and inottensive, and his expressions heartfelt and friendly. 
He despised everything which we denominate sham. It was 
loathsome to his uprightness of disposition ; and much of what 
is deemed policy in the business and intercourse of the world, 
he looked upon with disgust. His habits of life were simple and 
unostentatious, as befitting a refined, sincere, straightforward 
man as he was, and his loss will be intensely felt by all classes of 
our community, as well as by those to whom it is irreparable and 
enduring. It would ill become the writer of this to speak of the 
religious character of the deceased. Suffice is to say, that he 
was a regular attendant at and a liberal supporter of the Epis- 
copal church of this place, and is confidently regarded as a man 
who did justice, loved mercy, and walked humbly before God. — 
[From Cazenovia Republican, April 27, 1864. 

JSfoted. — Lucy Button, o'r "Crazy Luce," as she was called, the 
subject of a number of romantic love tales, lived in Cazenovia sev- 
enty years ago. She was one of the daughters of an honest and 
respectable farmer. She was "winningly rather than strikingly 
beautiful. Under a manner observable for its seriousness, and 
a nun-like serenity, were concealed an impassioned nature, and 
a heart of the deepest capacity for loving. She was remarkable 
from her earliest childhood for a voice of thrilling and haunt- 
ing sweetness." So writes "Grace Greenwood," who further 
tells us that Lucy's sister, Ellen, was a "brilliant born 
beauty," petted and spoiled by her parents, and idolized by her 
sister. Lucy possessed a fine intellect, and was far better edu- 
cated than other girls of her station in the new country, there- 
fore she left home about this period to take charge of a school 
some twenty miles distant. There she was wooed and won by 

a young man of excellent family, Edwin W , and her parents 

gave their approval to the union. 

It was decided that Lucy should come home to prepare for 
her marriage, and that her sister should return to the school to 
take charge of it for the remainder of the term. Lucy's lover 
brought her home, and on his return went with him the hand- 
some sister Ellen. He was a rather genteel young man, having 



APPENDIX. 757 

some pretentions to fashion, and quite satisfied Ellen's exacting 
fancy. Utterly heartless as she was, she proceeded to deliber- 
ately win his love, regardless of the destruction of the happiness 
of her sister. 

Unconscious of the proceedings being enacted in that distant 
town, Lucv, with a happy heart, perfected the preparations for 
her marriage, which was to take place in two months from the 
time she came home. At length the wedding day arrived— 
Lucy's nineteenth birthday— and Ellen and the bridegroom were 
hourly expected. But the day wore away, and neither the bride- 
groom, nor Ellen, the first bridesmaid, had appeared. 

This episode in the sad story of her life is related affectingly 
in Grace Greenwood's "Lucy Button," which has been generally 
regarded as the correct version. 

At evening the anxiously looked for couple arrived. The 
manner of the bridegroom was somewhat agitated as he tossed 
off a glass or two of wine, and when sufficiently stimulated for 
the occasion, he announced that he was already married. Turn- 
ing to Mr. and Mrs. Button he said, "I found I had never loved 
until I knew your second daughter." Says Grace Greenwood : 
"And Lucy ? She heard all with a strange calmness, then 
walking steadily forward confronted her betrayers ! Terrible as 
pale Nemesis herself, she stood before them, and her look pierced 
like a keen, cold blade into their false hearts. As though to as- 
sure herself of the dread reality of the vision, she laid her hand 
on Ellen's shoulder, and let it glide down her arm— but she 
touched not Edwin. As those cold fingers met hers, the unhap- 
py wife first gazed full into her sister's face, the dilated nostrils, 
the quivering lip and the intensely mournful eyes, she covered 
her own face with her hands and burst into tears, while the 
voung husband, awed by the terrible silence of her he had 
wroncred, gasped for breath, and staggered back against the wall. 
Then" Lucy, clasped her hands on her forehead, first gave voice 
to her ano-uish and despair in one fearful cry, which could but 
ring forever through the souls of the guilty pair, and fell m a 
death-like swoon at their feet." 

On awaking from this swoon her friends found that she was 
hopelessly insane. Her madness was of a mild nature, but she 
seemed possessed by the spirit of unrest. She would not be 
confined, and though her parents while they lived, in some meas- 
ure controlled this sad propensity, on their death she became a 
hopeless wanderer, and constantly traversed the whole area ot 
Madison county and those adjoining. One informant states 
that Lucy in 1812, appeared then to be about thirty or thirty- 
five years of age. Though faded and worn, and sometimes 
racraed the marks of beauty lingered about her features and 
person She was of scarcely medium height, straight, with 



758 APPENDIX, 

handsome rounded form, which expressed considerable ease and 
grace in her carriage and movements. Her naturally fair and 
soft complexion was browned by much exposure, for poor Lucy 
was always on the tramp. A handsome mouth, lips neither thin 
nor too full, a delicate Grecian nose, sad-looking hazel eyes, a 
forehead neither very high nor too low — a perfect feminine fore- 
head, we should judge — formed a face pleasing to look upon, but 
sadly interesting because of the deeply-troubled expression 
always there, overshadowing the light of reason. At all times, 
whether in action or repose, her soft voice gave vent to a low 
mournful sound — intonations, between the moaning of deep 
trouble and the audible sighs of abject weariness, or something 
resembling the moaning of a child in a troubled dream. 

Grace Greenwood says : " Her appearance was very singular. 
Her gown was always patched with many colors, and her shawl 
or mantle worn and torn, until it was all open work and fringe. 
The remainder of her miserable wardrobe she carried in a bun- 
dle on her arm, and sometimes she had a number of parcels of 
old rags, dried herbs, &c. 

" In the season of flowers her tattered bonnet was profusely 
decorated with those which she gathered in the woods, or by the 
way-side. Her love for these and her sweet voice were all that 
was left her of the bloom and music of existence. Yet no, — 
her meek and child-like piety still lingered. Her God had not 
forsaken her. Down into the dim chaos of her spirit, the smile 
of His love yet gleamed faintly — in the waste garden of her 
heart she still heard His voice at eventide, and she was not 
'afraid.' Her Bible went with her everywhere." 

She had a great repugnance to the society of men, and would 
climb fences in the most tedious wintry weather to avoid meet- 
ing them. Her friends, knowing this peculiarity, humored her 
— the men by never appearing to notice her, when in her 
presence. 

After wandering thirty years, Lucy Button was taken suddenly 
ill, and was moved to one of her old friends to die. A few 
hours before dissolution, reason returned, — she awoke, as it were, 
from a long nightmare. Supposing she had been asleep, she re- 
lated to her attendant her terrible dream. It was soon revealed 
to her that her dream had been the sad reality of her life ; that 
she was now old and dying. With a few old friends around her, 
the services of the Christian religion were administered by a 
servant of Christ in a manner peculiarly tender and sacred, be- 
fitting the occasion, and her lips, which at first joined in prayer, 
grew still. The prayer began on earth ended in a song of praise, 
over the other side of the dark valley. 



Notee. — An extract from the Leland Magazine, published 1850, 



APPENDIX. 759 

says : — "Amasa Leland, Ezra Leland, Isaac Leland, Orrison Le- 
land and Uriah Leland, children of Joshua Leland, were born 
in Sherburne, Mass., and removed with their parents in 1794, 
from Sherburne to Madison Co., N. Y. His other five children, 
Phebe, Sylvia, Juliette, Yale and Joshua, were born in Madison 
County, near Morrisville. Amasa Leland settled in Madison ; 
was an industrious farmer and a pious member of the Baptist 
Church. Ezra has for many years lived near Morrisville and 
has held several responsible municipal offices. He is a farmer, 
a professor of religion and deacon in the Baptist Church. Orri- 
son Leland several years ago settled in Northfield, near Ann Ar- 
bor, in the county of Washtenaw, Michigan. He is a respecta- 
ble farmer and a pious christian. Uriah Leland is now living 
{1850) in Morrisville, N. Y., where he has hitherto resided dur- 
ing his youth and manhood. He was in the active military ser- 
vice of his country at Sackett's Harbor as a subaltern officer for 
a short period of time, during the war with Great Britain, and 
since that time he has passed through all the grades of military 
promotion from a Cornet to a Colonel in the horse artillery of 
the State troops of New York. He has also for many years 
holden several responsible municipal offices in the town of Mor- 
risville, and for the year 1839 he was a member of the Legisla- 
tive Assembly of New York, for the County of Madison. Sylvia 
was married in 1823 to James Howard, of Madison, and since 
that time has resided with her husband in Madison, N. Y. Yale 
has always lived in Madison, He is a millwright of considera- 
ble note. He has holden the offices of Colonel in the militia 
and County Supervisor. He is a professor of religion and holds 
the office of class-leader in the Methodist Church. Joshua is an 
intelligent farmer, settled in Washtenaw County, Mich., where 
he has resided for many years. He is an active and^ useful citi- 
zen and a pious christian. He has holden the office of Magis- 
trate for several years, and for the years 1844 and '46 he was 
member of the Legislature of Michigan." 

Uriah, Amasa and Sylvia, the authoress learns, have passed 
away since the above family record was written. 

Note f. — The Tayntors of this town are of the fifth and sixth 
generation from the Joseph Tayntor who embarked from Eng- 
land, April 24, 1638, and settled in Watertown, Mass. They 
were a race of patriots and of pious men and women. There 
were Captains, Lieutenants, Doctors, Deacons and Ministers. 
To the work of the church they seemed to have been especially 
devoted, as all along down their line of ancestry and branches, 
during two hundred and thirty-three years, are scattered numer- 
ous ministers, deacons, and other prominent churchmen. 

The Joseph Tayntor who came to Lebanon in 1808, was born 



76o 



APPENDIX. 



in Worcester, Mass. in 1774. In 1795 he married Miss Abi- 
gail Fuller, a descendant of another ancient and prominent fam- 
ily of New England, and after some thirteen years came on to 
Madison County. Here, in the dreariness of winter and in the 
solitude of an extended wilderness, he gathered his little family 
around the parental fireside, sheltered from the bleak winds by 
a rudely constructed log cabin built from the timber that grew 
on the ground where it stood ; and on this very spot, endeared 
by various and numberless associations, he lived full forty years. 
Five sons and daughters represented Joseph Tayntor's fam- 
ily, who filled positions of usefulness in the town of Eatoti, 
County of Madison. These sons were Joseph Tayntor who be- 
came a Baptist Deacon and who adorned his position by a con- 
sistent life ; he was also a substantial farmer and useful citizen, 
in many respects ; Rev. Orsamus Tayntor, a Baptist clergyman, 
who is still living in West Eaton ; Cyrus Tayntor, who resided 
many years in Eaton, a man respected wherever he lives; and Ira 
B. Tayntor, a man of influence and position who has been Su- 
perintendent of Schools, and has held other municipal offices in 
town and county. There are other worthy families of Tayntors 
in this town, who are from the same progenitors. 



Noteg. — Three families of Morse came to Eaton from Sher-"/ 
burne, Mass. They were Benjamin, Joseph and Hezekiah Morse, 
of the sixth generation from Samuel Morse, who was born in Eng- 
land in 1585, emigrated to New England and settled in Dedham in 
1637. From Joseph Morse, son of Samuel, the pioneers of Eaton 
descended. The race is marked for there being among its mem- 
bers prominent pioneers of noted localities. Joseph Morse was 
proprietor of the "Medfield Grant," which formed the town of 
Medfield, Mass. His son, Capt. Joseph Morse, was an exten- 
sive land-holder in Bogistow, where he settled in 1670, and who 
married Mehitable Wood, the daughter of Nicholas Wood, the 
founder of Sherburne, Mass. 

Capt. David Morse, a son of Capt. Joseph, was one of the 
first white settlers of Natick, about 1727. He was empowered 
by the General Court to call the first parish or town meeting. 
He was a master spirit among whites and Indians. His son, 
Maj. Joseph Morse, (fifth generation) was a patriot in the Rev- 
olution. His three sons were the pioneers of Eaton. 

Benjamin Morse married Deborah Sawin, and with four chil- 
dren removed from Sherburne to Eaton in 1795. The only one 
of his family now living, is Julia, wife of Sylvester Macomber, of 
Hamilton ; but other descendants live in Michigan and other 
Western States. 

Joseph Morse married Eunice Bigelow, and with four children 



APPENDIX. 761 

removed to Eaton in 1796. After their removal four more chil- 
dren were born. Joseph Morse was the founder of Eaton vil- 
lage, and his sons have been identified with nearly all of its 
business interests. These sons may be named as follows : Ellis, 
whose biographical sketch appears in the chapter relating to Ea- 
ton ; Joseph, who .removed to Pennsylvania and was there sev- 
eral times returned to the Legislature of that State, and also be- 
came Judge of his County Courts ; Calvin, who was elected 
member of the Legislature from Madison County in 1842, and 
has held municipal offices in town and county ; Alpheus, who 
has been a merchant and scientific farmer, and for many years 
past, manufacturer, being proprietor of the Alderbrook Woolen 
mill ; and Bigelow, who was a respected citizen of Fabius, On- 
ondaga County. Eunice, the eldest daughter of Joseph Morse, 
married Dr. James Pratt, the pioneer physician of Eaton. After 
her husband's death, she with her family removed and began 
pioneer life again in Palmyra, Mo. She was a woman of indom- 
itable will and great energy of character. 

The descendants of Joseph Morse have, many of them, dis- 
tinguished themselves in various positions. Gen. Henry B. 
Morse entered the late war as Captain of the 114th Reg. N. Y. 
v., was promoted to the office of Colonel, and subsequently, for 
meritorious services, was breveted Brigadier-General in the army 
of the southwest. He is grandson of Joseph Morse ; as also is the 
Rev. Andrew Morse, of Warsaw, Wyoming County. Gardner 
Morse, who was member of the Legislature in 1866, Walter, a 
member of the manufacturing firm of Wood, Tabor ^^ Morse, 
George E., a prominent citizen of Rochester, and Alfred, who 
bravely gave his life for the Union cause at the battle of Win- 
chester, Va.; all these being sons of Ellis Morse. Darwin and 
Frank B. Morse, merchants at Eaton village, sons of Bigelow, 
are grandsons of Joseph Morse. Two grand-daughters, Belinda 
and Eliza, daughters of Calvin, have been conspicuous as teach- 
ers, the latter being now assistant Principal of Vassar Female 
College. 

Hezekiah Morse, the third of the pioneer brothers, came 
to Eaton in 1806. His children are scattered and many of them 
dead. One of his sons. Alpha, was for many years a prominent 
manufacturer of Eaton. Another son, Elijah, who is now dead, 
was a wealthy farmer of Eaton. A grand-daughter is wife of 
Rev. John Raymond, President of Vassar Female College, 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Albert H. \forse, a prominent citizen of 
Eaton is also a grandson, being son of Elijah. H. B. Morse, 
youngest son of Hezekiah, is a scientific and successful farmer 
of Norwich, N. Y. 

Where the facts in the history of a family present such a re- 
cord as the foregoing, it is evident that they have been men and 



762 APPENDIX. 

women eminently calculated by birth and training, to assume 
the duties and responsibilities, and to bear the hardships of build- 
ing up the new country, and to perpetuate the institutions of 
civilized life. Hereditary physical strength and great mental 
activity characterizes this family. 



Note h. — The Darrow family are of Scotch descent, their 
Scottish ancestor coming to this country sometime during the 
sixteenth century, and settling in New London, Conn. The first 
name of the genealogical record the author has been able to ob- 
tain is that of Nathaniel Darrow, grandfather of David Darrow, 
Esq., of West Eaton, who was born is 1696, and who married 
Rachel Willey, a woman of English descent. He moved to 
Norwalk where his son George Darrow was born in 1748. George 
Darrow when a young man went to reside in New Lebanon, N. 
Y., where he married Eunice Meacham, and where his family of 
six children were born. One of these dying when a child, the 
other four sons, Joseph, George, David and James, lived to be 
heads of families of their own. One daughter made the sixth 
child. Joseph and George took up large farms in Stow, Ohio, 
whither their father and mother removed in 1806, and where their 
father died. James joined the Shakers, where his mother, after 
his father's death spent her declining years. 

David, the third son of this family of George Darrow, became 
one of the pioneers of West Eaton. His family are and have 
been through the whole history of this village, prominent. The 
sons and daughters of David Darrow were ten in number. The 
daughters connected themselves with prominent and enterprising 
families. The sons, Joseph, George, Frederic, David M., Wil- 
liam I{. and J. J. Darrow, have been useful citizens in every re- 
spect. Joseph was a long time successful merchant and a pro- 
moter of religion and good morals ; George, whose unfortunate 
and tragical death, which occurred in Buffalo, N. Y., was the 
first who died among the sons of this family. He fell by a mur- 
derous shot (while riding from his place of business in the city, 
to his residence,) fired by some unknown assassin, who, it is be- 
lieved, mistook him for some other person, as no cause for the 
act could be ascertained. His body was brought to West Eaton 
for interment, where the tragedy had cast a gloom over com- 
munity. A very large concourse of friends followed his remains 
to the grave. He was greatly respected for the many good qual- 
ities of his head and heart. He was a Christian in the true 
sense. At the time of his death he was one of the first business 
men in Buffalo, and was a main pillar in the M. E. Church there. 
David M. Darrow has been a long time Justice of the Peace at 
West Eaton ; Frederick is a wealthy and enterprising farmer ; 



APPENDIX. ^6^ 

Wm. H. Darrow is a wealthy farmer of Cazenovia ; J. J. Darrow 
has been Justice of the Peace and Superintendent of Schools. 
He is a successful farmer and public spirited citizen, prominent 
in all matters pertaining to the advancement of religion and good 
society. 



Note i. — Emily C. Judson, or " Fanny Forrester." — This 
gifted authoress was born August 22, 1817, in Alderbrook. She 
was a daughter of Charles Chubbuck, one of the pioneers of 
Eaton. Her parents were poor, hence her opportunities were 
limited. As a family, however, literature was their forte. The 
works of the best authors were brought ^with them from their 
New Hampshire home, and in the absence of congenial society, 
they found sweet solace in the companionship of Milton, Pope, 
Shakspeare, Dryden, and other favorite authors. 

Underhill Cottage was not the house of " Fanny Forrester's" 
birth, that being the " weather-painted house at the top of the 
hill," described in her " Alderbrook Tales," which long ago 
disappeared, its location being a few rods from the Cottage. 
Underhill was the home of her childhood and youth, her foster 
birth-place, for here her mind first unfolded itself to the outer 
world, and here her intellect and genius had its birth. The wild 
country about this home seems to have bred the very atmosphere 
of romance and poetry, which the susceptible organization of 
Emily Chubbuck inhaled at her earliest breath. 

Although not physically strong, yet the narrow circumstances 
of their family compelled her to a life of labor while yet very 
young. At the age of eleven years her parents removed to 
Pratt's Hollow, where Emily spliced rolls in the factory. Her 
delicate organization but illy sustained the hardships of that 
weary summer, and aching feet, bleeding hands, and a sad heart 
were trials of daily occurrence. Later she twisted thread for a 
Scotch weaver and thread-maker in Morrisville ; and still later, 
when yet in her early womanhood, she occupied a situation in a 
milliner shop. In the meantime her heart was devotedly set 
upon education. At intervals she attended the Academy, and 
there studied French and Mathematics, evincing a remarkable 
strength and penetration in the latter studies, surprising in an 
organization so light and fragile, proving there was depth and 
power to her mind as well as beauty and brilliancy. 

In the spring of 1832, when but 15 years of age, Emily Chub- 
buck, with a courageous heart, took into her hands the reins of 
her own destiny. Cautiously she proceeded, measuring every 
footstep, prudently assuring herself that she was right, and there- 
fore moving on solid ground. With the ostensible purpose of 
visiting friends, she left home one bright April morning and 



7^4 APPENDIX. 

tripped over the green fields, with the real intention of securing, 
if possible, the privilege of teaching a district school. She first 
repaired to the house of one of the trustees of the school district 
of Nelson Corners, and, not a little fluttered, applied for the 
school. The burly, blustering trustee did not seem to favor the 
application of such a demure little body, whom he considered 
would be no ruler over the boisterous, headstrong scholars of 
their school, many of whom were larger and older than herself. 
Her ardour was dampened, still she did not give up the object 
of her pursuit, and while being entertained by her friends, she 
made known to them the object of her wishes. They kindly 
offered their assistance, and went with her to the other trustee, 
introduced her to that good natured, smiling gentleman — the 
antipode of his colleague — who was highly pleased with her ap- 
pearance, and satisfied with her ability. He promised to inform 
her in a few days if his associate should consent to hire her. 
She \yent home with her heart full of doubt and hope, and kept 
her trial a secret from her parents. Her mother was completely 
surprised a few days after, when a stranger came there and en- 
quired for Miss Emily Chubbuck, saying he had come to hire 
her to teach their district school. It was soon explained, and 
Ernily engaged to teach at seventy-five cents per week. 

That summer's trial at teaching proved a successful one, and 
subsequently for many years she spent her time alternately be- 
tween teaching and pursuing her studies in the higher branches. 

About 1840, Miss Chubbuck entered the Utica Female Semi- 
nary, and there continued her studies and also taught composi- 
tion. Here she wrote her first book, a small volume for chil- 
dren, entitled "Charles Lynne, or How to Observe the Golden 
Rule." The work met with success — fifteen hundred copies 
were sold in eleven weeks. After this she contributed to the 
"Lady's Book," "Knickerbocker's Magazine," and "Mother's 
Journal." Although her writings were not always noticed, they 
were in the main finally appreciated. After her name had at- 
tained celebrity, editors drew forth from some oblivious corner, 
neglected manuscripts, and now produced them for the benefit of 
an appreciative public. 

In 1844, a letter written, half in play, by herself, but signed 
"Fanny Forrester," to N. P. Willis, then editor of the "New Mir- 
ror," from which she did not expect any serious result, was the 
means of bringing her before the public in a new and attractive 
light ; and from this date commenced her successful literary ca- 
reer under the 7io?n de plume of "Fanny Forrester." We shall 
not further detail, but those who remember that period know 
how with what wondering anxiety the question was asked 
throughout the reading and literary world, "Who is Fanny For- 
rester ?" The originality, purity, beauty and vivacity of her style 



APPENDIX, 765 

• 

had not its precedent on the American Continent ; and yet — tell 
it not in Gath ! - there are many of her native townspeople who 
never knew that "Fanny Forrester" was the timid, sensitive, 
shrinking factory girl, or the quiet, unassuming district school 
teacher. 

In 1846, she married the celebrated pioneer Missionary, Dr. 
Adoniram Judson, and with him went to Birmah. She aided 
her husband largely in his labors, and translated much in the 
Eirnian language to aid the natives in their studies. Letters 
from her hand, in Birmah, found thousands of anxious readers of 
the journals on this side of the waters. 

But at length a change came, and America read with sorrow 
of the death of Adoniram Judson. The eastern miasma had 
done its work. With a stricken heart and a body enfeebled by 
disease, Mrs. Judson bade adieu to Maulmain, and, bearing her 
precious charge, her child, in October, 185 1, again set foot on 
her native shore. Her constitution was broken and swayed 
with every breeze. She often expressed a wish to die when earth 
was putting on her loveliest robes, and so it was. Surrounded 
by the children of her husband, to whom she had been a true 
niolher, with her own darling nestling beside her, she died on 
the day previous to the anniversary of her marriage, in Hamil- 
ton village, June i, 1854. 

The published works of this gifted writer were quite numerous, 
but among them all none was more widely read than her "Alder- 
brook Tales." In American literature she entered a new chan- 
nel, and opened a rich mine where subsequent writers have 
dipped their pens to find them burnished with poetic fire. 



Note j. — Mrs. Dr. Chase was the first lady physician estab- 
lished in Madison County. She commenced practice in 
Eaton in 1848. She encountered some opposition on account 
of her sex, but, owing to her remarkable skill and success in dif- 
ficult cases, she won public confidence and secured a large and 
successful practice. She continued in practice from" 1848 to 
1868, when sickness prostrated her. Mrs. Chase was a faithful 
wife, and as a mother was tenderly beloved by a large family of 
children. By a large circle of friends she was highly esteemed 
as a gifted woman and worthy in every respect. She died March 
1 2th," 1 869, aged 67 years. 

j^jQft; ]i_ — "Hon. Daniel Darwin Pratt, the eldest son of 
Dr. Daniel Pratt, of Perryville, was born in Palermo, Maine, in 
iS 13, coming to this section with his parents in 1814. At the 
earlv age of twelve he commenced preparing for College under 
the tuition of Dr. Guernsey, of Fenner, which was continued at 



']66 APPENDIX. 

the Oneida Conference Seminary, at Cazenovia. He entered 
Hamilton College under the Presidency of Dr. Davis before he 
was fourteen and graduated with the highest honors of his class, 
taking the valedictory, before he was eighteen. Hon. John Coch- 
rane was his College mate, and Rev. A. C. Kendrick, of Roch- 
ester University, was a class mate. At the age of eighteen he 
delivered a Fourth of July oration in Perryville, which was pro- 
nounced at the time to be one of the finest productions ever de- 
livered in the County on such an occasion. He immediately 
commenced the study of law in Cazenovia. In 1832, in com- 
pany with Mr. Holmes, now (1871) of Bloomington, 111., he 
started for the "great west" with less than $30 in his pocket. The 
two young men went on the Canal to Buffalo, thence to Cleve- 
land, where, finding a transportation wagon to Cincinnati, they 
obtained conveyance for their trunks, and went on themselves to 
that city on foot. There they endeavored to obtain situations as 
students of law ; but the price of admission was too high for 
their nearly exhausted purses, and they left on a boat for Law- 
renceburg, Indiana. Here young Pratt obtained a small school 
and remained one term, getting scarcely enough to pay his ex- 
penses, when, fortunately, he was elected principal of Rising Sun 
Academy, one of the most flourishing institutions of southeast 
Indiana. He conducted this Academy successfully, and saved 
money enough to go to Indianapolis and complete his law studies 
in the office of Fletcher & Butler, leading members of the bar in 
that city. In 1836 he located at Logansport, Ind., and commenced 
practice, to which he devoted his undivided attention and estab- 
lished a reputation of being one of the very best lawyer? in the 
State. In 185 1 and again in '53 he represented his district in the 
State Legislature, where his duties were arduous and his dis- 
charge of them highly commended and appreciated. In i860 he 
was selected as a delegate for the State at large to the National 
Republican Convention at Chicago. Being a man of large and 
prepossessing appearance, with a voice in proportion to his men- 
tal as well-as physical proportions, he was selected from all the 
men of high qualifications present, as reading clerk, and will be 
remembered by the many thousands who assembled at that 
great and important Convention. In 1868 he was nominated for 
Congress in the Eighth Congressional District of his adopted 
State, and abandoning all else devoted his whole energy and 
power to the canvass, and by his eloquence and convincing argu- 
ments added no little to the success of the Republican party; but 
before the time arrived to take the seat he had been elected to fill, 
the Legislature of his State chose him U. S. Senator. He is 
now (1871) an active member of the Senate, and no Senator 
does harder work or is more faithful to his trusts. He is a fin- 
ished scholar, of high and refined mental culture ; possesses a 



APPENDIX. 



767 



genial disposition, intermingled with a never-failing fund of hu- 
mor, wit and sentiment combined, and is the life of the circle of 
his professional friends and neighbors. Upright in his charac- 
ter ; gentlemanly in his deportment ; unostentatious in manner ; 
modest and retiring to a fault ; in short, possessing all the qual- 
ities which should ever characterize a great and good man. He 
has filled the position he occupies with honor to himself and credit 
to the State and party who have chosen him, without even solic- 
iting his consent. 

Note I. — The Female Anti-Slavery Society of Hamilton 
was formed in Hamilton in December, 1843, in the house of 
John Foote. The object of this association was to lend its in- 
fluence against slavery, raise means to contribute to the ad- 
vancement of freedom by donations to Anti-Slavery agents, 
ministers, or missionaries, and to the fugitives from bondage, 
&c., &c. A constitution was formed and adopted by this body 
of refined and intelligent women, who conducted their meetings 
with president, secretary, treasurer and managers. 

They raised funds by sewing societies and by subscriptions for 
the cause, procured the best and most noted of the Anti-Slavery 
lecturers to hold public meetings in Hamilton, and in some 
cases adopted colored children, or otherwise provided for them 
by finding them places to work, and having their schooling at- 
tended to. 

The membership of the society increased as the years wore 
on ; their meetings were well attended, and conducted with 
grave decorum. The exercises were of a religious and literary 
character, always bearing on the question of slavery, and made 
deeply interesting by the talent brought forward. 

The association continued its meetings and labors until the 
close of the civil war, when their labors were no longer re- 
quired. 



Note m. — Angel De Ferriere was born at Niort, Depart- 
ment Des Deux Sevres, France, in the year 1769. His youth 
was passed under the reign of Louis XVI., a period character- 
ized by turbulence, revolution, and finally the downfall of the 
empire'. The ancient families of the empire strove to maintain 
their beloved king, and when he fell, the whole nobility of the 
realm were involved in the general ruin. Death, imprisonment, 
or banishment awaited those who did not flee the vengeance of 
the furious revolutionists. 

The De Ferriere family belonged to the ancient nobility, 
whose representative was Mons. Chevalier Edward Brieard, the 
last French Governor of Canada. Truly loyal to the fortunes 



768 APPENDIX 

of their king, they, fell with him, and their estates in the city of 
Alnay were confiscated, and the family hurried into exile. 

Angel De Ferrier, at an early age, had been sent to the 
Military School at Brien, where Napoleon Bonaparte was edu- 
cated, and when not twenty-one attained to the promotion of 
colonel in the King's Life Guards. In an attack made upon the 
palace in August, 1792, the king's body-guard were driven to 
use arms in a fruitless attempt at defense, for they found them- 
selves unequal to the fury of a Parisian mob. They were com- 
pelled to witness the most cruel treatment of their king and 
queen, and to be unable to rescue them from violence and im- 
prisonment, and were forced, in self preservation, to flee from 
the vengeance of a continually increasing and formidable fac- 
tion which swelled the mob, and was hurrying to prison or the 
guillotine every member of the nobility whom they could seize. 
Few of the king's body-guard escaped, but among the fortunate 
ones was Col. De Ferriere, and a companion in arms, a young no- 
ble, who fled to Holland, where, their families being known, they 
found friends. Even here they were not safe, for the spies of the 
revolutionists swarmed throughout the adjacent countries. 

During their stay in Holland, at a dinner party they were in- 
troduced to some gentlemen who belonged to the Holland Land 
Company, who, in conversation on their affairs in America, pro- 
posed that these young men should try their fortunes in the new 
country, as many other noblemen had done before them. Col. 
De Ferriere and his companion were impressed with the idea 
and decided to go thither. They immediately made the neces- 
sary arrangements, deposited funds with bankers in Holland, 
and took letters of credit on the Holland Company's bankers in 
America, Messrs. Leroy Bayard & Co. Nor far from the time 
when their King, Louis the XVI., was beheaded, in the year 
T793, they embarked at Amsterdam in a vessel bound for New 
York. 

When about to embark, it was observed that cruisers, search- 
ing for the proscribed loyalists of France, lined the coast. They 
had been but a few hours at sea, and just at night, when one of 
these cruisers drew near, clearly with the intention of boarding 
the vessel. The captain desired to secrete the loyalists, but De 
Ferriere's companion declared he could pass for an Italian, and 
thus escape. De Ferriere was prevailed upon to be secreted, 
and the ship's crew soon made a recess in among the fire-wood 
of the cook-room in which he and his effects were safely placed. 

The cruiser hove alongside, the officers boarded the ship, and 
having displayed their papers of authority, commenced search. 
They soon met the pretended Italian, but his speech betrayed 
his high birth and French origin, and he was hurried from the 
vessel into confinement. Diligent but fruitless search was made 



APPENDIX. 769 

for De Ferriere, and great was his relief mingled with heartfelt 
sorrow, as the cruiser receded from view, for, althougii he was 
safe, his friend was being borne to a dreadful doom. 

Soon after night had settled down upon the sea, another ves- 
sel, whose flag they could not discern in the darkness, drew near 
and hailed them. There was instant and anxious fear, lest the 
cruiser had returned, perhaps having learned b}' ply'^S their 
frightened captive with questions that another fugitive was in 
the ship. Taking this view. Col. De Ferriere refused to be again 
secreted, and desired to be left to himself, assuring them that he 
would not be taken alive. Immediately, on the exchange of the 
usual marine salutations, the Captain sprang to De Ferriere's 
side, clasped his hand with joy, and exclaimed, "You are safe ; 
that vessel is a Yankee !" This was the end of his danger, and 
the incubus of suspense, anxiety and fear, which the " reign of 
terror" produced wherever the loyalists were on the Continent, 
gradually lifted from his mind, as he left the shores of his native 
country behind. 

Arriving at New York he met Col. John Lincklaen with whom 
lie came to Cazenovia, Madison County. While at Cazenovia 
himself and Mr. Lincklaen occasionally went to Canaseraga to 
talk I'rench with Mr. Dennie, the only man in this region of tiie 
country with whom they could converse in that language. It was at 
these visits that Angel De Ferriere, then a young man of twenty- 
two, formed the acquaintance of Polly Dennie, Lewis Dennie's 
only daughter, a respectable young woman, with pleasant man- 
ners and civilized habits, said by some to have been very beau- 
tiful, and resembling the race to which her mother belonged but 
very little. In due time they were married, and settled near 
Cazenovia. Subsequently he was prevailed upon by his wife's 
friends, to settle at Wampsville, Madison County, where her 
brother, Jonathan Dennie, presented his wife a fine farm. Mr. 
De Ferriere added to this until he was owner of about 3,000 
acres of valuable land. 

In 1817, he went to France to present his claims and receive 
his heritage from the once princely estates of his family. His 
inheritance enabled him to promptly complete all payments on 
his Lenox land, and indulge a cultivated taste in adorning his 
American home. Here he reared a family of five children, send- 
ing them from home to be educated. Here he died in 1832. At 
the family homestead, in Wampsville, Madison County, is the 
De Ferriere monument which bears the inscription : — 

Angel De Ferriere was born January 8th, 1769, at Niort 
Department Des Deux Sevres in France. Died September 
17th, 1832, aged ()2) years. 

Also :— 

In memory ok Polly De Ferriere, Consort of Angel De 

W2 



770 APPENDIX. 

Ferriere ; Born March, 1774 ; Died March, 1853, aged 79 
years. 



Note 71. — The.Bruces are said to be of Scotch and Dutch Hne- 
age. The name in Scottish history is synonymous with great- 
ness. The following extract from a sketch published when B. 
F. Bruce (son of Joseph Bruce,) was Member of Legislature, 
suggests that the spirit of their Scottish ancestors may have de- 
scended through all the centuries from the illustrious Robert 
Bruce, to the present generation. "Mr. Bruce has perhaps more 
of an air distingue than any other member of the Lower House. 
His tall, finely developed figure, his proud, erect bearing and his 
well-shaped head, combine to attract the attention of the specta- 
tor, in glancing over the gentlemen who compose the Assembly. 
Mr. Bruce has a deep sonorous voice which has been highly cul- 
tivated, and as an orator he fully commands the attention of the 
listener. Some of his most brilliant speeches were extemporane- 
ously delivered ; in fact he seldom puts his ideas on paper, pre- 
ferring to trust himself to the impulse of the occasion." — [See 
Civil List, Chapter 2.] 

JVote o. — The raising of the first church building, at the 
Opening, was made an " occasion," it being something new to 
erect a church edifice, and the frame, also was of heavy timbers. 
Madison could furnish from within her own borders a more than 
sufficient number of stalwart men to rear the ponderous "bents" ; 
but men of superior physical strength were held in high esteem 
in those days of stern realities ; the society was doing a big 
thing, and it was a time to be complimentary ; therefore a special 
invitation to attend the raising was sent to five men, living just 
over the line in Augusta, who were thus endowed by nature. 
These were Daniel and Benjamin Warren, Archibald and Par- 
don Manchester, and Noah Leonard. They of course accepted 
the honor and attended ; and it was a compliment that each was 
proud to remember and to refer to long years after. Dea. Ben- 
jamin Warren, one of the five, stood six feet in height, weighed 
upwards of 200 pounds, and was possessed of enormous phys- 
ical powers. Pardon Manchester was an inch taller, nearly of 
the same weight, and notwithstanding his giant proportions was 
possessed of an elasticity and quickness of motion almost su- 
perhuman. This man was for a time a resident of Madison. 
During that residence he happened one day to be at a tavern 
on Augusta east hill, and got involved in a quarrel — a too com- 
mon occurrence with him — in which he was assailed by six men, 
who all made for him at once. As they came on, Manchester 
gave the foremost man a terrible kick in the abdomen ; then, as 
fast as he could deliver as many blows, he knocked down three 
more. But the remaining two gave him a hard fight ; his flying 



APPENDIX. 77 r 

fists failed every time to hit the mark, and he could only hurl 
them from him through his superior rapidity of action. At 
length, the floored ones beginning to rally, he decided to retreat, 
but on the attempt found both doors and windows fastened ! 
Quick as lightning he seized first one and then the other antag- 
onist and threw them across the room ; then, turning to a win- 
dow, he jumped several feet from the floor, planted both feet in 
the center of the lower sash, and in a shower of flying glass and 
splinters landed out door in an upright position and made good 
his escape ! 



Note p. — Eri Richardson, one of the Richardson brothers, 
was a member of the Legislature in 1822, and represented his 
constituents worthily and satisfactorily. While at Albany, he 
g-!\-e his whole attention, first to the understanding, and then to 
the performance of his duties. But, unlike many other legisla- 
tors, he cared little for mere etiquette. An anecdote, illus- 
trating his singular indifterence to the commonest observances 
of cultivated life, as well as the peculiar temperament of the 
man, is told of him : The Major, as he was called (he was so 
commissioned in 181 2,) had an inveterate habit of spitting. 
Early in his term as Assemblyman he was sitting in his room 
at Albany, preparing, with pen in hand and busy brain, the 
speech he was to deliver before the august body of his peers, 
and as usual, when all absorbed in a subject, was spitting in 
every direction upon the carpet. A servant came in to perform 
some office, and observing this, shoved the spittoon in front of 
him ; the Major was oblivious, and out went another mouthful 
to the left ; the servant moved the polished receptacle of filth to 
the left ; the Major's eyes were still bent upon his paper, his 
thoughts were deep in the intricacies of his theme, and his 
mouth was working nervously ; it soon filled, and away went 
another copious ejectment, this time to the right ; the servant 
pushed the convenience to the right ; the Major's saliviary 
glands rapidly secreted again, and while his lips were apparently 
gathering for one grand discharge in front, the servant, hoping 
to anticipate it, gave the appurtenance a desperate shove with 
the broom in that direction. " Now, see here !" said the Major, 
just brought to consciousness, " do you take that d — d thing 
right out of the way, or I'll spit in it !" This story leaked out, 
got home, and made much amusement at the Major's expense. 
It has been repeatedly told in and out of print, with variations, 
but it rightfully belongs where we place it. 

Note q. — The Warren family, noticed in the Stockbridge 
chapter, is one of the oldest, capable of being traced in this 
country. Its progenitor, or original ancestor upon New England 
soil, was Sir Richard Warren, an English Baronet ; a puritan (if 



772 



APPENDIX. 



old colonial history' is correct,) of the most rigid and bigoted 
kind. Jte came to Plymouth, Mass., with the puritan colonists 
in the next vessel after the Mayflower (probably about 1632). 
With him came his only son. Sir James Warren, who was at the 
time married and had one or more sons then in their childhood. 
At his death also expired the family title inherited in England, 
titles being even at that early day obsolete and valueless in the 
already republican colony, except perhaps a few Crown officers 
in the new settlements. From these descended the Warrens of 
New England, and from them the Warrens of New York and 
other Northern States, till they have become (to use an inflated 
comparison) as "numerous as the sands of the sea." The grand- 
father of Gen. Joseph Warren of Bunker Hill memory, and the 
grandfather of John Warren, of Stockbridge, were brothers ; 
sons of a grandson in some degree (not ascertained) of James. 
Benjamin, the father of John Warren, was a native of Raynham, 
Plymouth County, Mass., but removed to Royalston, Worcester 
County, about 1769. He was a soldier in the old French war, 
so-called, and subsequently a soldier of the revolution. In the 
latter, he served from the first general call of the patriots to arms 
until October, 1777, when he fell in the battle of Stillwater 
Plains, the day before the taking of Gen. Burgoyne, and died 
instantly, a musket ball entering his forehead and passing 
through the center of the brain. A brother and a nephew were 
'n a rear rank ; they saw him fall, paused over his dead body as 
they advanced, and saw that he was dead ; there was no time 
for even a pulsation of grief over kindred remains; the battle 
was raging; the same moment they were pressed on with the 
hurrying troops of the command who were advancing to a charge. 
The remains of the father of John Warren were not again iden- 
tified ; the fallen of that day's contest were at night hastily gath- 
ered and received a common sepulture, unknelled and uncoffined, 
but not unmourned. 



CONCLUSION. 773 



CONCLUSION. 



Our task is done, yet we have a few concluding words to 
offer for the consideration of those readers who may discover 
that certain persons, events, &c., well known to themselves, 
have been omitted, while other matter corresponding, of 
only equal and perhaps often of less importance, appears 
upon the record. We desire to remind them that this was 
unavoidable. At an early stage in our labors of collecting 
the material for the foregoing work, we learned by brief ex- 
perience that a local history, necessarily made up chiefly 
from oral data, could not be written in full ; there is literall}^ 
no end to such data, and there must be a limit to the matter 
composing a book. From the long array of names of early 
settlers and prominent men, and the vast quantity of inci- 
dents, events, &c., gleaned in our travels for that purpose 
over the County, we have selected that which in our judg- 
ment was the most valuable for preservation and the most 
illustrative of the pioneer days ; which should avoid tedious 
repetition of similar experiences as much as possible, while 
covering the whole ground and retaining as much matter of 
local interest as a convenient and not too expensive volume 
could embody. After selecting from the mass which our 
nine years' toil had gathered, we were unable to compress 
that selection within the limits of the six hundred pages 
announced in connection with the price in the prospectus of 
the work ; but rather than abridge in that which seemed to 
belong to our readers — since it was already obtained^ — we 



774 CONCLUSION. 

have swelled the volume by an addition of one hundred and 
seventy-four pages, in order to give such selection complete. 
Also, we are aware that notwithstanding our earnest efforts, 
we may have failed to obtain the names of many persons 
equally as worthy of honorable mention as those who are 
thus noticed in the foregoing pages. And further : that 
without doubt many incidents quite as interesting as any- 
thing given, are lost to the work, from having been either 
passed by unknowingly when in search of them, or not oc- 
curring at the time to the memory of our informants. We 
can only deeplv regret any serious omission from whatever 
cause. L. M. H. 



ERRATA. 



Page 322, on loth line from top, instead of " successful," 
read "unsuccessful." Page 300, 5th line from bottom, for 
"town," read "house." Page 510, 14th line from top, to place 
of "»rhe latter," read "Daniel Grouse." Page 569, 9th line 
from bottom, for " Bullard," read " Ballard." Page 570, 12th 
line from top, for " and," read "once." Page 66^, 26th line, 
omit "t," also corresponding note at bottom oi the page. 
Page 729, 4th line, for " east " read " west." Also on same 
page, 13th line, lor " west " read " east." In appendix, page 
761, in note (g,) read " William," instead of " P21ijah." 

Appendix. — Note "a" refers to page 158; " b," 173; 
" c," 228 ; " d," 241 ; " e," 286 ; "f," 299 ; " g," 303 ; " h," 
331; "i;'334; "j."338; "k," 373; " 1," 454 : " ni," 489 ; 
" n," 520 ; " o," 615 ; " p," 646 ; " q," 744. 



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